Old Enemies
by shelly.hoffer.7
Summary: The Reaper is back! But he's dead isn't he? Hotch and the team get a new case involving, what they believe to be a copycat. Are they sure? Where will the case lead? And will Hotch live to see the end? Rated M for violence, gore, and language.
1. Chapter 1

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 1**

Garcia knocked on Rossi's door. "Enter," Rossi yelled

"Hey, I just got a file from Florida. There's been a murder, and they thought we should know about it," she said as she walked in carrying a paper file folder.

"Just one? Why do they need our help? Are they actually asking for help?

"Well. . . "

"And why aren't you discussing this with Hotch?"

"Well. . . I wasn't sure if I could go to him about this."

"What?" Rossi could tell by Garcia's face that something was wrong. "Let me see it."

"There's not a lot of information, but they sent the crime scene photos," she told him as she handed him the file.

Rossi opened the file and looked at Garcia with a shocked look. "Are they serious? This can't be. . ."

"Now you know why I didn't want to go to Hotch."

"Garcia, this can't be real," he said sternly. "This has to be a copy cat."

"I know, but St. John's County wanted us to know about it before it hit the news. Should we tell Hotch?" she asked with a worried look.

"Is St. Johns calling it a copy-cat?"

"Yes."

"Then, I think we can just let this go. If they actually contact us for help, then we'll tell Hotch."

Garcia breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok. Sounds good." She smiled at Rossi and left his office.

Rossi looked down at the file again. A gory photo of a couple found dead in their vehicle, a bloody mess, stared back at him. The couple wasn't what had Garcia so rattled, though, it was the giant Eye of Providence, the sign of The Reaper, that was so disturbing. Rossi took a deep breath and closed the file.

**XXXXX**

Two days later Rossi was at home making himself dinner. The news was on the TV in the background. Just as he was taking a sip of wine – "Is the Reaper back?" the news anchor asks. Rossi spit out the sip of wine he was about to swallow and grabbed the remote to turn up the TV. _Of course it had to go to commercial_, Rossi thought disgustingly. The news finally came back on after Rossi impatiently waited through six commercials. The news man explained that for some reason local police have not linked six murders across three states to the same killer. "The Reaper is at it again," the man explained as pictures of vehicles surrounded by police appear on the screen behind the man's head. Rossi slams down the remote in anger. _How could anyone. . ._

"The FBI claims that the reaper is dead. That the case that lasted over 10 years is closed, but now the Reaper is alive and killing again . . ." Rossi turned his attention from his TV to his phone that had begun ringing.

"Are you watching this?" came Hotch's voice through the phone. There was no anger in his voice, but Rossi could definitely detect unease.

**XXXXX**

The next morning the BAU bullpen was abuzz as the team quietly discussed the news from the previous night. They were all in agreement that the news anchor must be insane trying to incite panic by reporting that The Reaper was alive. All of the hushed talking ceased, though, as Section Chief Strauss emerged from Hotch's office. She walked quietly back toward her office with all eyes following her out the glass doors. Once the doors shut behind her, they all looked back towards Hotch's office. Rossi emerged from Hotch's office first, looking a bit uneasy. He slowly looked down at the rest of the team. "We have a case. Conference room in five minutes," he told them. They all glanced around at each other and then went to their own desks to gather their stuff.

On the way, Morgan ran into Garcia carrying a stack of file folders. "Hey baby girl," he said with a smile that could melt any woman's heart. She stopped and looked at him. He noticed none of the usual peppiness that Garcia usually oozes.

"This is not a good morning Daryl," she insisted.

"Hey, this is not our first copy-cat, Penelope. Just another psychopath who can't think of anything original," he told her trying to sound off-handed.

"I know, but why The Reaper? And Why us? Don't the people upstairs know what happened? Do they even care about Hotch?"

Morgan put his hands on her shoulders. "They want us to handle this because of our familiarity with the original case. You know we can do this, and as far as Hotch goes, he wouldn't have accepted the case if he couldn't handle it."

"I know. I know. I just don't even like the thought of any of you having to relive that monster."

Morgan gave her a kiss on the forehead, and they walked to the conference room together.

**XXXXX**

A killer dressed in all black, a black hood, and a black paint ball mask that hid all but his eyes crouched over a man covered in blood. The bloody man, who was lying on the side of a road, screamed as the killer slowly slid his knife between two of the man's ribs. "Don't worry, you'll be dead soon," the killer reassured the man in a sadistic voice. As the dying man gasped for air, the killer moved over to a woman lying on the ground next to the bloody man. "But, unfortunately you will not die before you get to witness the glorious things I will do to your wife." The woman tried to screamed, but the gag in her mouth only allowed a strangled whimper to escape her lips. "Now you. . . you don't deserve the timed precision cuts that I used on your husband," he told the woman as he waved the wicked looking knife in front of her face. The killer looked back at the dying man to make sure he had the man's attention. The woman tried to squirm away, but the killer looked back to her. "And where do you think you are going?" he screamed as he slammed the knife into the woman's abdomen over and over again. Once he was finished with her, he checked the husband to make sure he was also dead. Once he was sure, he put his gloved fingers into the pool of blood that was forming underneath the woman's body. He reached up and scrawled The Reaper's Eye on the side of the vehicle and then slowly walked away.

**XXXXX**

"So why weren't we contacted about this before now?" Morgan asked.

"The murders were in different states, and local police didn't connect the cases until the news last night," Garcia started to explain.

"Exactly how did that reporter put the cases together?" Blake asked.

"He received a letter," Hotch stated plainly as he walked into the room holding a typed letter sealed in an evidence bag. He handed the letter the Reid as he sat down.

Everyone waited for Reid to quickly read it. "He says that the FBI is trying to cover up his return. That he is not dead."

"Are you kidding me? This guy is trying to convince the media that The Reaper isn't dead?" Morgan voiced with anger.

Rossi took the letter from Reid. "The killer is saying that he was never caught, and therefore he was never killed. That we lied to cover-up the fact that we couldn't catch him," Rossi explained further as he read the letter. The letter was printed on yellowed paper and had a red "eye" drawn on it.

"And this idiot news man is buying this story? Who is he anyway?" Morgan asked.

"Mike Tolburt. He is the lead anchor for a small station in Georgia," JJ told them.

"What makes him so special?" Blake asked.

"Nothing that we could find. He is just a low level anchor at a local station. He's clean from what we can tell," Rossi told them.

"Then why did the killer contact him? Why not a bigger station for bigger coverage?" Blake wondered.

"The KLPD station is the local station for the second killing, other than that, we can find no connection," JJ explained.

Garcia's laptop made a noise and she started tapping on the mouse. "Ut-Oh," she said with a worried look.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"There's been another killing," Garcia said slowly as she transferred files to the plasma screen, and images flooded the screen. The first was a woman lying in a pool of blood and her chest and torso were so tore up that it was impossible to determine how many times she had been stabbed. Another image showed a half-naked man with multiple stab wounds. The last image showed a bloody "Eye of Providence" that covered the side of a light colored SUV.

As Hotch stared at the screen, the all too disturbing scenes from his past came flooding into his mind. There were too many pictures to count – too many lives lost to that deranged psychopath. He was dead, though, Hotch saw to that by killing him with his bare hands after Foyet killed his wife. Why now, four years later, would someone be copying The Reaper? And why was he claiming to actually be the original? The body was never claimed, so the state had him cremated to dispose of the body.

"Well, it looks like one of The Reapers' crime scenes. . ." Rossi starts.

"They are holding the scene until we get there," Garcia informed them.

They all looked to Hotch. As he felt all of their eyes on him, he snapped out of his painful memories. "What?"

"They're holding the scene until we get there," JJ told him.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright, wheels up in ten. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can catch this unsub." Everyone gathered their stuff and started to leave the room. Hotch stayed a moment, his eyes lingering on the "eye" drawn in blood on the screen.

**XXXXX**

_**On the jet to North Carolina**_

"Well, if you are going to copy a famous serial killer, the Reaper has got to be one of the easiest now," Reid explained plainly.

"Huh?" Morgan asked looking up from his tablet.

"Well statistically, since the Reaper's reign was in modern time, every book, every mention of him can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection," he explained.

"And believe me, my lovelies, if you search "The Reaper", you get more than one million hits, and only a few of those deal with Old Mr. Grim," Garcia cut in from the laptop sitting on the table. "And these hits include all aspects of the Reaper case and Foyet's life," she added.

"So what is this guy copying exactly?" Blake asked.

"Well, he's definitely showing more rage against the young women," JJ told them as she looked through the files.

"Easily found info," Garcia let her know.

"The eye is perfectly drawn; there's no hesitation in the drawling," Reid pointed out.

"Again, easily found," Garcia added.

"But he would have had to practice it many times to drawl it that easily," Reid added.

"He crosses gender, race, socioeconomic, and state lines. He definitely doesn't care who he kills," Blake tells them.

"The Reaper was on omnivore, and apparently this unsub is too," Hotch states plainly.

"Well, one difference is the crossing of state lines. When Foyet started he stayed around Boston," Rossi pointed out.

"Yeah, Foyet didn't switch states until. . ." Morgan started, but stopped as he looked at Hotch.

"Until he came after me," Hotch finished Morgan statement. They all just stared at him. He knew what they were thinking, so he answered their unspoken questions for them. "I'm fine. I will be fine. I can handle this." He could tell by their expressions that they weren't so sure. "Look, we know Foyet's dead. We know this is a copycat. Stop worrying so much," he tried to reassure them.

"Hotch," Rossi looked him in the eyes. "This might bring up some horrible memories; memories you've worked hard to get past."

"You don't think that I've considered that? That I haven't had to deal with them already?" Hotch asked looking at each of them. They returned sympathetic looks. "Alright, if it gets to be too much, I will step out and let you all finish the investigation, agreed?" he asked them as a whole. With no offered objections he continued. "Morgan, Rossi, and Blake – you go to the crime scene. Reid and JJ, I want you with me at the station. Garcia?"

"Yes sir?"

"See if you can get that reporter to come and meet us there."

"And if he doesn't want to?'' she asked from the laptop screen.

"Just be extra persuasive," Morgan told her with a wink.

"Just let him know that obstructing a federal investigation can get him 5-15 years," Rossi said with a grin.

"Okeydokey," she said and signed off.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Old Enemies – Chapter 2**_

_**In Wilson, NC**_

As Morgan and Rossi looked over the crime scene, Blake talked to the detective who greeted them.

"Well, this looks all too familiar," Morgan stated plainly.

"Yeah, whoever is doing this has done his research," Rossi added.

The scene was just like every other Reaper murder scene. Blood everywhere, the woman obliterated and the man tortured with enough stab wounds that would allow him to feel extreme pain but not enough to kill him quickly. Rossi stared at the "eye" drawn in blood on the side of the SUV. "You know, I actually thought I would never have to look at another one of those," Rossi confided in Morgan.

"I know. With Foyet dead, we had no reason to think we would," Morgan said.

"Actually," Rossi started, "Garcia came to me after the first murder in Florida."

"What? Why didn't you bring it to the team?"

"It was just the one. The police knew it was a copycat. They weren't asking for help, they just wanted us to know about it. It wasn't until the news report tying them all together that we knew there was another serial killer loose."

With that, Blake walked up to them. "Well, the local police say that Mr. and Mrs. Lane were liked by all. Their forensic team found nothing except a bloody boot print." Rossi and Morgan looked at her questioningly. "And before you ask, the print is from a size 13 common work boot sold at almost every store around." She could see the disappointment cross their faces.

"Well, the real Reaper never left any foot prints," Rossi stated.

**XXXXX**

_**Back at the police station**_

"The files from the first three crime scenes are on their way. Garcia is compiling data on all eight victims, and. . . "JJ started.

"Did she get ahold of the reporter?" Hotch interrupted.

"Yes. He is due to arrive by 5:00"

"Good, that gives us time to start on victimology. Reid, I want you to go over the files chronologically and see if we can get a handle on where he's going," Hotch told him.

"Well he's definitely using Interstate 95. All of his victims were within 20 miles of it. He could possibly be a transport driver," Reid speculated.

"They could just be victims of opportunity as he travels north, though," JJ mused.

"True. Too many 'mights' and not enough concrete evidence," Hotch mused.

"I don't understand why he would contact that reporter to connect all of the crimes," one of the NC detectives started, "when in reality he was getting away with them."

"Credit," Hotch stated plainly.

"Huh?"

"He wants the credit. He wants people to fear him, and without connecting them, only those people where the crimes took place had fear. By claiming all of the crimes, he widens his fear zone," Hotch explained.

"Now every traveler on 95 will be worried," JJ added.

Three uniformed officers brought in file boxes. Reid opened the first one and started reading.

**XXXXX**

_**Somewhere on the outskirts of Sutherland, VA**_

"Oh, Thank God!" a man said getting out from under the hood of his car. He noticed a police cruiser pull up behind his car.

"Honey?" a woman asked as he walked past the driver's window.

"It's alright. A cop just pulled up," he told his wife and continued on to the police car.

"Something I can help you with?" the cop asked as he got out of his patrol car and walked up to the man.

"Yes, please. My car just died, and we can't get a cell signal out here." the man told him.

The cop smiled. "Yeah, no cell towers anywhere near here, but my radio works. You want me to call for a tow truck?" the cop asked him.

"That would be great." The man told him.

The cop returned to his car, and the man went back to his wife.

After a few minutes the cop approached the stranded vehicle. "I really want to thank yo. . ." the man started but was stopped short by a blast to his chest from the cop's pistol. The woman started screaming as soon as her husband's blood splattered on her.

"Shut up!" the cop, now wearing his Reaper mask, yelled to the woman. The shock made her settle down to just whimpering. "That's a good girl," he said as he slammed a knife into her chest several times.

**XXXXX**

_**At the police station**_

Most of the team was in their make-shift conference room. All of the information from the four murders was posted on the white boards around the room. Hotch looked at the photos of the eight victims. Two younger couples, one middle aged, and one older; all killed on deserted dark roads. The scene in the room could have been from ten years ago; it was too close to the real thing, and Hotch had an uneasy feeling gnawing down deep in his gut. He was never one to put any stock in gut feelings, but he couldn't help feeling he was missing something.

Hotch glanced over the boards again, and he let his memories of the past boards come into his mind. Scanning through the whiteboards of the past, Hotch knew there was something missing, but he just couldn't figure it out. He wished he had Reid's eidetic memory because he was sure there was something missing from the present boards. He shook his head in disgust; he just couldn't figure it out. "Where's Reid?" he finally asked the group.

"Getting coffee, I believe," Blake told him without looking up from the file in her hand.

Hotch sat down, still looking at the white boards. Rossi glanced at his friend. He could tell something was digging at Hotch, but he wasn't sure if it was just old memories or something new.

"Ahhh, finally," Blake gasped as Reid came into the room carrying six cups of coffee.

As Reid started handing out the cups, Hotch pulled him over to the boards. "Alright Reid, tell me what's missing here," he said gesturing towards the boards.

Reid looked over the boards to see if anything had been added in his absence. Seeing nothing, he looked at Hotch questioningly. "I don't understand." he admitted

"Think back to the boards from the Reaper case. Something is missing now that was there before," Hotch told him.

The rest of the team joined the two men, curiosity getting to them. Reid took a moment to bring up the boards from the past – looking through them in his mind. A smile formed on his lips as he realized what Hotch was talking about. "The objects," he said plainly. Hotch's head snapped back to the boards as he smiled. He knew Reid would know.

"Huh?" Blake said as she looked back and forth between the members of the group.

"The Reaper would take something from his victims and then leave it on the next victim, so that all of the murders could be connected to him," Rossi explained.

With that, they all grabbed a file to see if any objects were misplaced on the victims. "I got nothing," Morgan confessed as he looked at the third set of murders.

"Me neither," JJ said looking at the first case.

"Nope," Blake said of the latest case.

"Niente," Rossi added in Italian as he looked at the second.

"Would there be anything though? I mean if the police weren't looking, would they have noticed?" Reid asked the group.

Hotch considered that for a moment and then looked at Rossi. "I want you to go south and interview all of the families to ask about any objects lost or found." Rossi nodded his acknowledgement. Hotch then turned to the girls. "JJ, Blake, interview the families here for the same thing. Only the families will know if things are out of place." All three of the agents grabbed their stuff and left the room as a local agent came into the room.

"Agent Hotchner?"

"Yes."

"There's been another one," the young agent confessed worriedly. "It's in the outskirts of Sutherland, VA. That's about two hours away."

**XXXXX**

_**In John's Creek, FL**_

Rossi knocked on the door of the house belonging to the daughter of the first couple who were killed by the unsub. "Yes?" a young woman said as she opened the door.

"Mrs. Butler?"

"Yes. May I help you?"

"I am Agent Rossi with the FBI. I called you earlier."

"Oh yes. Please come in," she said as she led him into her family room. She motioned him toward the couch and took a seat in the chair across from him.

"First of all, let me say I am very sorry for the loss of your parents," Rossi said genuinely.

"Thank you. You said you needed to ask me something about my parents?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you have had a chance to look over your parents' personal effects."

"Of course," she looked at him with questioningly.

"Was there anything missing that should have been there?"

"Actually, there was. How did you know?"

"Well, as you know, your parents' murder has been linked to a serial killer." She nodded her head. "This killer is copying another serial killer from a few years ago. Part of that killer's action would be to take a personal item from his victim. I was just wondering if the killer took something from one your parents," Rossi explained to her. "May I know what he took?"

"My father's P-38" she said flatly.

"Ok," Rossi started.

"I wouldn't even care except that my father told my son he could have it once he was gone. My son loved that stupid little can opener."

Rossi, of course, knew what P-38 was. He was in the army and had owned one of the little metal can openers, too. "If I find it, I promise to get it back to you."

"You know, there was something in the bag that didn't belong to my mother. Would that have been from the killer, too?" she asked.

Rossi looked at her with concern. He didn't even think to ask her about something found that didn't belong because this was the first killing. Or was it? "What did you find? Are you absolutely sure what you found couldn't have belonged to your mother, and you just didn't know about it?"

"There's no way that locket belonged to my mother. It was older, used, and it had two pictures in it of people I have never seen. That man and the boy are no one I know," she explained.

"May I see the locket?"

"I took it back to the police station. I just thought it got put in my mother's stuff accidentally."

"Ok. I want to thank you for your time," Rossi said as he prepared to leave.

"Of course. I really hope you catch this bastard. Nobody else needs to lose her parents. It just isn't fair."

Rossi gave her arm a quick squeeze, and he let himself out. He needed to call the next victim's family to let them know he was going to be a little late since he had to go to the police station and look at this locket.

**XXXXX**

Rossi entered the police station and asked for the detective in charge of the case as he showed his credentials. The detective came up to meet him and took him back to his desk. The detective knew exactly what locket Rossi was asking about. He took out a small evidence bag out of his desk drawer and handed it to Rossi. "Has it been dusted?" Rossi asked him. With the detective's nod, Rossi took the locket out of the bag.

"Mrs. Butler swears that it didn't belong to her mother or anyone in her family," the detective explained, "and we didn't find any prints. We also couldn't connect it to any other case, so I don't think it just accidently ended up in Mrs. Butler's mother's personal items. I just can't figure out where it came from," the detective explained.

Rossi looked at the locket closely. On the back of the simple gold locket the letters "HH" were carved. Rossi carefully opened the locket, and his breath hitched in his chest as the blood left his face. Staring back from the locket was his boss and friend, Aaron Hotchner. On the other side of the locket was a picture of a young Jack, Hotch's son. _How the hell?_ Rossi wondered.

"You know who it belongs to?" the detective asked.

"Yes. It belonged to a woman who died over three years ago," Rossi said. The detective looked at the agent with concern. Rossi continued. "I'm not really sure what this means, but I will be taking the locket with me."

"Of course. Just let me know when you get this son of a bitch."

Rossi promised he would, stuck the locket back into the evidence bag and then into his pants pocket. He then said goodbye and left to visit the next set of families.

**XXXXX**

_**Outside Sutherland, VA**_

Hotch, Morgan, and Reid walked around a green minivan as they took in the scene. A man was dead in the driver's seat and a woman was dead in the passenger seat. The word: "FATE" was scrawled in blood on the inside of the windshield.

"The driver was taken down with one GSW to the chest. The passenger was taken down with multiple stab wounds," a Halifax County Deputy told them.

"Notice anything out of place?" Morgan asked him.

"Other than two dead bodies on this normally peaceful road?" He chuckled a little but noticed Morgan's glare and quickly added, "No sir."

Hotch started going through the inside of the vehicle, but he didn't notice anything out of place either. He turned to the deputy, "Once everything has been processed, we will need the files ASAP."

"Of course, sir."

"We also need to talk to the families," Reid pointed out.

**XXXXX**

JJ and Blake met with Charles Lane's brother at the local police station. "Mr. Lane, we were wondering if anything in these items seems out of place," Blake told him as she handed him an evidence bag stuffed with the couple's personal effects.

The distraught man handled the bag while he tried to see everything in it. "May I open it?" he asked looking at the agents. They nodded assent, and he dumped the items on the table. He slowly started picking up each item and moving them around on the table.

"Also, let us know if you know if anything is missing, please," JJ instructed.

After looking through all of the items he handed JJ a pair of sunglasses. "These aren't my brothers or my sister-in-law's."

"Are you sure?" Blake asked him.

"Yes. My brother had prescription glasses and sun lenses that clipped on them, and I've never seen Sarah wear a pair in my life," he said very sure of himself. "But I don't see Chucks' fingernail clippers."

"Fingernail clippers? Is that something he always carried?" JJ asked.

The man laughed. "Yes. If Chuck was dressed, he had them in his pocket. He used them all the time, for everything. We used to tease him about being MacGyver in the way he could do wonders using those stupid clippers," he told them as his eyes welled up with tears.

"Alright. I really want to thank you for doing this. I know it must have been hard," JJ said as she grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"If you find his clippers, can I have them back?" He asked putting the items back into the bag. "I know they only cost a dollar, but they were very important to Chuck. He would go crazy if they weren't in his pocket," he explained as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I'd like it if they were in his pocket when I bury him."

"Of course. If we find them, we will get them back to you," Blake told him with a small smile.

**XXXXX**

Rossi pulled into Darien, GA, as the sun was going down. He had called Sandi Knowles, and she had assured him it wasn't too late for him to meet with her. Sandi's sister had died with her new husband in the second murder. As he knocked on the door, he could see Sandi moving through the house toward the door. "Hello. You must be Agent Rossi."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you for visiting with me this evening," Rossi said with a small smile.

"Not a problem, anything I can do to help you find my sister's killer," she told him as she lead him to her table. "Would you like some coffee or something?"

Rossi would normally never ask anything of a victim's family, but the look on the woman's face made him think that she needed to give him coffee almost as much as he truly wanted it. "Yes, please." He sat at the table looking at the personal items from the accident/murder that were spread out. He immediately noticed the little P-38.

"Cream or sugar?" she asked from the kitchen.

"Black is fine," Rossi told her. "I see you had a chance to go through the items," he stated as he accepted the mug from her.

"Yes." I even had Mike's brother over earlier to help identify Mike's stuff. There was this thing on Mike's key ring that didn't belong," she told him picking up the key ring. There were so many keys on it that she had to move a few of them around to get to what she wanted. "We don't believe this belongs to Mike," she said showing the P-38 to Rossi.

"Are you sure?"

"We don't even know what it is. I've never seen it before and neither has Tommy."

"It is an army personal can opener. Was Mike ever in the military or into things like that?"

She laughed. "Not Mike."

"Was there anything missing?" Rossi asked as he took the can opener from the key ring.

"Yes. My sister's iPod wasn't in the bag, nor was it in the car. She hated listening to the radio, so she never went in a vehicle without it."

"And you're sure she couldn't have left it some place?"

"Never. Donna never carried a purse. It was always in her pocket if it wasn't hooked to the car stereo. It had a "Cars" case on it."

"'Cars'?" Rossi asked confused. "What type of car?"

Sandi laughed a little. Not a car, but 'Cars' the kid's cartoon. Hers had Mater, the tow truck, on it."

"Oh, I see," Rossi lied. "Well, if we find it, I will make sure you get it back." He finished the coffee, thanked her, and headed back to his car.

**XXXXX**

JJ and Blake got back to the conference room in time to meet with the reporter who received the letter from the unsub. "I really want to thank you for coming in Mr. Tolburt," JJ told him with a smile. She had to smile, but the guy gave her the creeps. Not only had he reported on the news that the FBI was trying to cover up past mistakes, but she was also getting bad vibes from the guy.

Blake led the way to a table away from the conference room. They didn't want him to see any of their evidence. Once they were all seated, Blake started. "So the letter you received in the mail, was it addressed directly to you?"

"No. It was just addressed to the station. One of the assistants opened it and brought it to me. So are you guys lying about the Reaper being dead?" he asked with a sleazy grin.

"No, but you are going to report what you want." JJ told him as she tried to keep the ire out of her voice.

"Hey, I was just reporting what the letter told me," the man said defensively.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you should have checked the story out before putting it on the news?" Blake asked him.

"I did, well sort of. I looked into the killings. The letter was right about where and when they took place," he told them with a smirk.

It was taking everything in her for JJ to not punch this idiot in the face. "But you didn't check on any of the other facts to see if they were true?"

"Yeah right! Like if the FBI was going to cover up something, they would admit it."

"The Reaper is dead. This is a copycat. It's that simple," JJ argued back.

"Then why are you guys trying to keep this out of the news? I know there have been more murders," he said getting up to leave.

"And where do you think you are going?" Blake asked him.

"You have your letter, you have your case. What else do you want from me?" he asked. "You can't keep me here. I have done nothing wrong."

"Have you received anything else?" JJ asked him.

"No," and with that he left.

"What an asshole!" JJ said as she watched him leave the room. Blake just smiled at her, apparently she was thinking the same thing.

**XXXXX**

"Hey JJ," Rossi said as he read the caller ID when his phone rang. "I just got done with case two, but I'm going to find a hotel soon, and head to St. George first thing in the morning."

"I assume you found items?" JJ asked.

"Yes. A little can opener from case one and there's a missing iPod from case two," Rossi explained. He couldn't tell her about the locket. He wasn't even sure how he was going to tell Hotch. Hell, he hadn't even figured out how it got on the Florida woman anyway.

"Mr. Lane's brother gave us a pair of sunglasses, and he said his brother's little fingernail clippers were missing." With that they said goodnight, and JJ wished him a safe journey.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Old Enemies**_

_**Chapter 3**_

"Ms. Dunn?" Rossi asked as a young woman opened the door.

"Yes. You must be the agent who called?"

"Yes ma'am," Rossi said.

She then led him into her house and motioned to a chair in her living room. "Please sit."

"Thank you, and I want to tell you how truly sorry I am about your brother and his girlfriend."

"Thank you. You mentioned something about my brother's stuff," she started.

Rossi could see she had been crying. "Yes, and I know how hard this must be, but I must ask if you noticed something that maybe didn't belong to him or his girlfriend."

"Actually I did," she got up and grabbed a small box off of her entertainment center. She handed the box to Rossi. He opened it and looked at the miscellaneous items. "That iPod didn't belong to my brother or his girlfriend."

Rossi picked up the music player and turned it over to find a cartoon tow truck on its case. "Are you sure? Could they have picked it up without you knowing?"

"Definitely not!" she said adamantly.

"How can you be so sure?" Rossi asked with a raised eyebrow.

The woman laughed a little. "Look at the music on it. My brother would die before he would listen to country music," as soon as she said it she winced. "His and Abby's favorite group was 'Disturbed'." She could tell by Rossi's blank look that he had no idea what she was talking about. "'Disturbed' is an alternative metal band," she said with a smirk.

"I see," Rossi told her putting the iPod into his jacket pocket. "Did you notice if anything was missing?"

"John's sunglasses," she explained. "He never went anywhere without those things like he was allergic to the sun or something."

Rossi again promised to get them back to her, and she walked him to the door with a thank you. He knew they had found the sunglasses, but they still needed them for a little while.

**XXXXX**

By the time Rossi had rejoined the team, they were setting up in their own conference room in Quantico. They were adding the latest victims to the white boards as he walked in holding the items he had recovered. JJ and Reid had interviewed the latest families and found Mr. Lane's fingernail clippers, and Mr. Burnette's son had told them that his father's Zippo lighter was missing. The Zippo had been given to Mr. Burnette when he retired from the Air Force. It had been inscribed with his name, rank, and retirement date. The whole team was silently wishing that they would never find it because that would mean that the killings had stopped.

Even though they all spent the night in a hotel, none of them had slept well. Reid was busy arranging the white boards while Blake yawned as she texted her assistant professor to let him know she would be missing the rest of the week's classes. Hotch was on the phone, but Rossi couldn't tell who he was talking to. With a sad smile, Morgan took the items from Rossi to get them photographed and processed. Rossi hadn't put the locket in the box as he still wasn't sure how to handle it. He knew he had to tell Hotch about it, but he just couldn't figure out how yet.

Hotch sat down in disgust as he hung up his phone. Rossi sat down across from him and ran his hand through his hair. They were all disgusted. Ten people were dead, and they weren't anywhere near to catching the unsub.

"Well, I need a break," Rossi said standing up again.

"A break? You just got back," Blake teased him.

"OK, Hotch looks like he needs a break," Rossi said with a grin. Hotch looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Come on Aaron, let's go grab some fresh air," Rossi told him. Hotch was about to say no, to say that he couldn't afford to lose any time on the case, but he knew he wasn't getting anywhere with it anyway.

_Besides, maybe some fresh air would clear my head_, Hotch thought to himself.

The two men walked to the building's exit in silence. Rossi knew that if Hotch wanted to talk, he would wait until they were outside. Rossi silently supported his friend as they made their way down the sidewalk.

Hotch didn't stop walking as his cell rang. The caller ID showed 'unknown', but Hotch didn't think too much of it. "Hotchner," he answered.

"If you stop hunting me, I'll stop hunting them," said a digitally altered voice.

Hotch stumbled a little, and his face turned a deathly white.

"What is it?" Rossi asked lending a hand to steady his friend.

"Well, Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner, what is your answer?"

"I. . . We. . ." Hotch stammered.

"Oh, I caught you off guard. Hmmm . . . I guess I will have to call you back. Do you think you can collect yourself within an hour?" Hotch didn't answer. "I'll take that as a yes. Expect a call on the hour. It will be your one and only chance to make a deal. . ." the caller paused, "and Agent Hotchner, you might want to consider your previous choice and the repercussions from it." The caller laughed and then hung up.

Hotch watched his phone go dark as the call ended and sank onto a bench. He rubbed his hand down his face and took a deep breath.

Rossi, now extremely worried, sat down next to his friend. "Aaron, what is it?" Rossi asked, and then a horrible thought entered his mind. "It's not Jack?"

Hotch realized how horrible he was acting and straightened up. "No. Thank God, no."

"Then what?"

"We need to talk to the team," Hotch told him as he stood up and regained his composure.

"I'll go make sure everyone is in the conference room. Take your time; we'll be waiting." Rossi told him and then went back into the building.

Rossi quickly typed a group message to have everyone meet in the conference room in five minutes, and he told them that if they needed anything to get it beforehand. As soon as he sent it, he headed to the break room. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew it must have been bad.

**XXXXX**

As Morgan and Reid entered the conference room they saw that everyone was already there except Hotch. "What's going on?" Morgan asked the group. JJ and Blake shook their heads letting him know that they had no idea.

"Something happened," Rossi told them.

"Where's Hotch?" Reid asked all of a sudden very worried.

"Rossi?" Morgan asked sensing Reid's mood.

"No. No," Rossi started, "I didn't mean that," he apologized.

"Then what?" Morgan asked impatiently.

"I'm not sure." Rossi told them as they took their seats calming down. "Hotch got a call."

"From who?" JJ asked.

"I don't know, but it visibly upset him, and then he called this meeting." Rossi confessed.

Garcia came into the room followed by Hotch. Rossi noticed that Hotch had regained his usual stoic demeanor. Garcia sat down and opened her laptop. "There's been a new development," Hotch started. Everyone remained silent so that he could continue. "I received a call on my cell. Garcia is going to play it back now." He nodded to Garcia and after a few keystrokes; everyone could hear Hotch answering the call.

They listened to the call in silence. They glanced about, mouths hung open, and Garcia even covered her ears. The silence continued for what seemed like minutes. Obviously they were waiting for Hotch to start, but he just sat there looking at them. He took a deep breath and finally started to speak. "Remember at the beginning of this case when I said I would step down if I couldn't handle it? Well, as you all just heard, I completely lost my composure. . . "

"Hotch, no one could fault you for your reaction to that!" Morgan told him sternly.

Everyone started to voice their agreement, but Hotch stopped them with a raised hand. "I was very unprofessional and. . ."

"Stop it Aaron," Rossi insisted. "We all know what that must have done to you. Now if you want to run and hide, we will let you, but I for one don't want to face this unsub without you."

Everyone started to agree with Rossi, and when they were quieted down, Reid asked softly, "Do you want to step down?"

"No. . . " Hotch started.

"How?" Garcia asked, clearly mad. "How could a copycat know that? I thought the whole deal thingy was never released."

"It wasn't supposed to be, "Hotch told her.

"We didn't want the Boston PD to deal with any reproductions from the detective's deal, and of course Foyet offered Hotch the deal which he turned down," Morgan explained.

"And we all know how that ended," Hotch said flatly.

"I don't mean to change the subject, but if the unsub is punctual, we only have twelve minutes until he calls back," Reid injected. Hotch looked at his watch. "What are you going to do?" Reid asked.

"Well, I know I am not taking the deal. I'm not giving this son of a bitch anything," Hotch told them.

Rossi smiled to himself, this was the Hotch he knew. "I think we definitely need to look at this case from a different perspective. We need to start looking at Foyet and any connections to him," Rossi told everyone.

"Huh?" Blake asked.

"There has to be something or someone we missed three years ago. Someone connected to the case. Someone who knew about the deal who has leaked that info to somebody," Rossi explained further.

"What about that guy. That guy who wrote that book about the Reaper and actually knew Foyet?" Morgan suggested.

"Roy Colson," Reid told him.

"Yeah, him," Morgan agreed because he knew Reid would never get the man's name wrong.

"We need to find him," Rossi said and Garcia went to work on her laptop. "Did he ever mention the deal in his new book?" Rossi wondered as he looked at Reid.

"No. Colson kept his promise," Reid assured him.

"Dead end," Garcia said with a furrowed brow. "Colson died a year and a half ago in a pile-up on icy roads in Montana," she added and then started typing again.

"Damn," JJ said.

"And I have even more bad news," Garcia told them with a worried look. They all looked at her expecting her to go on. "I just searched any and all aspects of the Reaper and the word deal, including all known synonyms, and I got nothing."

"So the deal never reached the public," Hotch said and took a deep breath.

"So this copycat didn't find out about the deal from the internet," Blake pointed out the obvious.

"Then how did he?" Morgan wondered.

Just then, Hotch's phone rang with another 'unknown' number. Everyone turned quiet. "Agent Hotchner," he answered.

"If you stop hunting me, I'll stop hunting them," the digital voice reverberated from Garcia's laptop allowing everyone to hear the conversation.

"I didn't make the deal with the real Reaper. Why would I take it from some sub-par copycat?" Hotch asked very condescendingly. It was clear to everyone that Hotch was trying to bait the unsub.

"Sub-par? Sub-par?" The voice paused and then laughed. "That almost worked SSA Hotchner. You seemed to have regrown your balls since our previous conversation."

"Actually, I was just distracted. A gorgeous woman was walking by me, and I really wasn't paying attention to you," Hotch told him off-handedly. Rossi almost laughed.

"Really? I thought maybe you were shocked that I was actually offered you the deal again?"

"Again? Are you trying to say that you are the Reaper?"

"You doubt that I am?"

"I _know_ you're not!"

"Really, why?. . ." he paused, but didn't give Hotch a chance to answer. "Because you killed Foyet?" Hotch looked at everyone. "How do you know that Foyet was the Reaper? What if I told you that Foyet was just a victim that I didn't get to finish, and in his warped mind, that he tried to imitate me?"

"Well, I know one warped mind. . ." Hotch started.

"Enough of the false bravado! You know _Shaughnessy_was able to die with a clear conscience knowing that he stopped the killings. You, on the other hand, will die with countless people's blood on your hands!"

"So what you're tellin. . ." Hotch started.

"You will regret not making the deal!" The voice said angrily and hung up.

Everyone looked at Garcia. "I am soooo sorry, sir. He was bouncing the signal all around the globe. He was . . "

Hotch held up his hand to stop her. "It's alright."

"What about what he said? About Foyet not being the actual Reaper?" Blake voiced what everyone was wondering.

"Well, I _know_ it was Foyet who attacked me, and I _know_ it was Foyet who attacked Sam, and I _know_ it was Foyet who killed Haley!" Hotch said with deep stemming anger.

"He fit the profile. We caught him red-handed," Morgan added.

"But what if we were wrong?" Reid questioned.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Old Enemies**_

_**Chapter 4**_

"You actually think Foyet was imitating someone else?" JJ asked Reid.

"The signs never pointed to two different killers," Morgan injected.

"There's no way Foyet wasn't the unsub," Hotch said.

Rossi could sense a little doubt in Hotch's voice almost as if Hotch was trying to convince himself of the statement. Rossi swallowed hard as his hand encased the locket in his pocket. He knew it would be hard to tell Hotch about it at any time, but now it seemed even harder. He took a deep breath; he knew he had to tell, and it was either now or never. "Hotch."

Hotch looked at him. "Dave, I know what you're going to say. . ."

"No Hotch," Rossi stopped him. Hotch looked at the older man. "Mrs. Butler, the daughter of the first victims, found something in her mother's effects that didn't belong to her."

Hotch sat down across from Rossi with a concerned look as he wondered what could possibly have Dave so rattled. "How could there be? She was one of the first victims." It was a statement, and Rossi thought he could hear the fear in Hotch's voice.

Dave glanced at the other team members, but they couldn't help, they didn't even know about the locket. He drew a deep breath and pulled the locket from his pocket. He held it out to Hotch. Everyone looked at the little gold locket hanging from a delicate chain, and then looked back and forth between Hotch and Rossi.

With a questioning look, Hotch took the locket. As he looked it over he kept glancing back at Dave. Hotch noticed the "HH" inscribed on the back, but that didn't really didn't register with him. He carefully pulled the locket open and his eyes went wide. He looked from the locket to Dave, but Dave just sat there speechless. Hotch looked back down at the locket again. Everyone could see the heat of anger rising up from Hotch's neck and onto his face. "No," he said shaking his head. He looked at Dave, "No!" he yelled more forcibly.

"Hotch, I am so sorry. . ." Dave started.

Hotch stood up and threw the locket onto the table. The rest of the team scrambled to grab the locket, to see what had their boss and Rossi so shaken up. "No! Damn it Dave. This psycho is trying to play with us!"

JJ grabbed the locket first, and tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the pictures in it. She quickly passed it around the room.

"What the hell?" Morgan yelled once he had his turn with the locket.

Hotch ran his hand over his face. "That is not Haley's!" he demanded.

Rossi got up and put his hand on Hotch's shoulder. "Hotch. . ."

"That's not Haley's!" Hotch demanded again.

"How could the unsub have gotten Haley's locket?" Blake asked.

"It's not Haley's! He's just trying to rattle me," Hotch demanded.

"Hotch. . ." Rossi started again.

"Damn it, Dave! Don't you think I would know if my wife had a locket like that?" Hotch yelled at him.

Rossi finally realized that Hotch wasn't rattled, he was pissed.

"Are you sure?" Reid asked.

"Yes!" Hotch almost screamed. "Yes, those are pictures of me and Jack, but I have never seen that locket before in my life." Hotch said pointing at the locket that had made its way into Garcia's hand. Garcia was looking at it through tears.

"Ok Aaron," Rossi said looking his friend in the eyes. "Then this is just another ploy of the unsub trying to make us believe that he is not a copycat."

Hotch took a deep breath and nodded at Rossi. "We need to figure out where he got those pictures," he said turning to Garcia.

"On it," is all she said as she put the locket on the table, picked up her laptop, and headed back to her lair.

"So he planted something on the first victim as a way to what, to tie Haley's murder to these?" JJ asked the group.

"Haley was the reaper's last victim," Reid pointed out.

**XXXXX**

_**In Prince William County, VA**_

A car slowed down as it went around a sharp turn, but it had to stop completely as it pulled up behind three cars stopped at railroad crossing. The train was flying by as the driver got out. The killer, wearing his black garb, started walking toward the other vehicles with a pistol in his hand.

It didn't take him too long to kill the people in the three cars, and the sound of the train drowned out the noise of the gun shots. He went back to the car closest to the tracks and used the victim's blood to drawl an 'eye' in the car's windshield. At the second car, he wrote out the word 'FATE' with a question mark. On the car closest to his own, he used the victim's blood to write out the words 'NO DEAL' with a big question mark on the back window of the little sport's car.

After he appraised his work he started to his own vehicle but stopped. He returned to the car with the eye on it and put a zippo into the man's jean's pocket. Then he stopped at the sports car and reached in and grabbed the rabbit's foot that was hanging from the man's rear view mirror. With a laugh, he returned to his vehicle, did a U-turn, and drove away into the dark.

**XXXXX**

Hotch woke up with a start to his cell phone ringing. With a groan he reached over to his nightstand and picked it up. "Hotchner," he answered because his eyes hadn't focused enough to be able to read the caller ID. "What?. . . Already?. . . OK . . . Yeah. . . Give me thirty JJ," and he ended the call. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his alarm clock; it showed a disappointing 3:30am. With a sigh he got out of bed and silently thanked God that Jack had spent the night at Jessica's, so he didn't have to wake the young boy so early. The unsub had struck again. Hotch knew his team had gotten home late the night before, and he figured that none of them had gotten much sleep. He also knew, though, that the quicker they could get to the scene, the quicker they may actually catch a break. _But, damn, 3:30?_ he thought disgustingly as he headed for the shower. He didn't have much time before he had to meet his team at Quantico, but a cold shower would help wake him up enough to feel safe to drive.

**XXXXX**

Reid walked into the conference room and realized that he was the last to arrive. "Where to now?" he asked after he took a sip of his coffee.

Garcia put a map of Virginia on the plasma screen and announced, "State road 646," as the Virginia map zeroed in to the exact spot of their destination.

"Wow, that's like only a half an hour from here," Reid pointed out.

"Twenty-seven miles exactly," Garcia told him.

"He's getting bolder," Hotch injected.

"Maybe that means he'll screw up," Blake said with a yawn.

"Alright, let's go see what our unsub has done this time," Hotch told them and headed out of the door.

As they all followed him to the SUVs, Rossi turned to JJ, "you get any sleep?"

"About two hours," she told him. "Thank God Will was there for Henry. You?"

"Actually, about three," Rossi said with a small smile.

"Well, I got about four and a half," Reid said in an almost giddy voice.

"I only got about one, so I'm not driving," Morgan told them flatly.

Hotch drove one SUV with Reid and JJ, and Rossi drove the other with Morgan and Blake. It hadn't taken that long to get there with the time of morning they were out, and Morgan grumbled about not being able to catch any sleep in the car. None of them, though, could believe their eyes when they pulled up to the scene.

"Three vehicles?" JJ asked with surprise.

Hotch had noticed that, too; but his eyes were drawn to the words scrawled across the back window of the sport car in the rear of the line. Visions of the bus full of dead people came flooding into his mind. He had blamed himself for those murders because he knew Foyet had done them right after Hotch had turned down the psychopath's deal. Apparently he had also pissed off their new unsub. _Damn it!_

**XXXXX**

After going over the scene they headed back to Quantico. They had found Mr. Burnette's Zippo, and they could tell something had been taken from the rear view mirror in the sports car, but they wouldn't know what until they talked to the young man's family. The unsub had killed two men and one woman, each in separate vehicles, who had apparently been stopped by a train.

They figured these victims were just victims of opportunity, and that the unsub had probably happened upon them by chance. It had pissed Hotch off. How dare this unsub strike this close to them. He was toying with them; challenging them to catch him. Hotch thought he could use that to their advantage, though, and made a plan to hopefully draw the bastard out.

**XXXXX**

By the next evening, the team had found out that the missing item was a rabbit's foot the young man had bought right before winning $50 on a lottery ticket. Ever since then, the man had it displayed in his car. Not wanting to wait to find the rabbit's foot on another victim, the team set out in vehicles to hatch Hotch's plan, and hopefully catch their unsub.

**XXXXX**

Hotch sat in the old car as the hazard lights clicked out an annoying rhythm. He was pretending to be broke down on a lonely stretch of Fuller Road not too far from where the last three victims had been killed. They weren't sure where the unsub was going on that road, but they took the chance that he might be hunting on the back roads around Quantico. The team decided to try to lure the unsub out by providing him with an easy target. Hotch fidgeted. He had been sitting out there for over three hours. The old model Ford Taurus wasn't exactly the best vehicle for comfort for the tall man as he tried to his best to stretch his cramping legs. "Guys, I'm getting really bored out here," Hotch told them in his comm link.

"It was your idea," Morgan told him in his ear piece.

"Yeah, but you at least get to stretch your legs in the SUV," Hotch told the man who was sitting about a mile away.

"Maybe he can smell a trap," Reid told him from a different SUV about a mile away in the opposite direction. Each of the Team's SUVs was neatly hidden away in the trees, so that they could clearly see the road and any vehicles going toward Hotch.

"Blue van, tinted windows," Rossi told Hotch trough the comm link.

Hotch jumped out of the car and went to the open trunk to help with the charade of being broken down. As the lights of the van came around the curve in the road, Hotch pulled the spare tire out of the trunk. The van, coming up behind him, started to slow down. As Hotch put the tire on the ground in front of the flat, he checked to make sure his coat was not blocking his access to his gun. As the van slowly approached, Hotch bent down to pretend to start changing the flat, but he was very aware of the vehicle creeping up behind him.

Hotch stood up to face the vehicle and came face to face with a teenage girl. Hotch immediately took in the vehicle and its passengers. "Are you OK?" a middle aged woman asked from the driver's seat as she leaned forward to see around the girl. Hotch noticed a young boy in a car seat in the back seat, and he relaxed.

"Yes ma'am. Just a flat," Hotch told the woman. "Thank you for asking, though."

"OK, I just thought you might need a phone or something," the woman said with a smile. Hotch smiled back, and the passenger window started to go back up as the woman drove away.

"False alarm," Hotch said into his comm link and put the spare back into the trunk.

"I say we give it about thirty more minutes and then pack it in," Rossi suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Hotch told them as he climbed back into the cramped car. _Being cramped is better than being cold_, he thought to himself.

"You know what I don't understand?" JJ asked Rossi and Reid from the backseat as they waited for another car to come down the road.

"What?" Reid asked turning around to face her.

"Why would Hotch want to be the bait in this case?"

"He feels connected, obligated if you would, to personally solve this case," Rossi explained. "He thought this case was behind him, and now he's pissed that someone is doing this. He wants this unsub, and he wants him bad."

Hotch squirmed in his seat as he checked his watch. _Fifteen minutes left_, he thought gladly. He wanted to catch this guy, but after almost four hours on this road and only three vehicles, Hotch figured they picked the wrong road. Just then there was a tap on his window. Without any warning from the team, without any lights from a vehicle, Hotch instantly grabbed his gun and pointed it at the window.

"Whoa!?" Hotch heard and realized the person outside had fallen down. He threw the door open and jumped out with his gun pointed. "Hey! Don't shoot! Please don't shoot!" a woman yelled as she tried to scoot back away from Hotch. Once Hotch registered that it was a woman, he lowered his gun. "Don't come near me!" she shouted as she continued to crawl backwards.

"I am so sorry," Hotch said as he put his gun back in its holster and advanced on the woman. "You scared me. . . I didn't . ."

"I scared you?" She yelled as she continued to back away. "I was gonna ask you if you needed help, and what do I get for trying to be nice? A psycho with a gun!" Hotch stopped short. "I have mace!" the woman yelled as she held up a small can in her right hand.

"Ma'am, I _am_ sorry!" Hotch said as he reached for his credentials. "My name is Agent Hotchner. I am with the FBI." He held out his badge to show the woman while holding out his right hand in submission.

The woman stopped moving as she looked from Hotch's face to his badge. "You could still be a psycho with a badge!" she told him matter of factly.

Hotch smiled. "I guess that's true, but I'm not. You just startled me is all." He stayed where he was so he wouldn't put any more pressure on the woman.

"I guess I do look kind of silly down here," she said trying to smile.

"I'm going to help you up if that's alright," Hotch said as he put his badge back in his coat pocket.

She smiled sheepishly as she put her mace back into her coat pocket and nodded her head. He walked toward her, holding out his left hand. She reached up with her right hand palm down. "Thank y. . .," she started to say. A soon as Hotch touched her hand, though, bright lights flashed behind his eyes. His body convulsed, and he fell to the ground.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "You just earned me $1,000."

Hotch's eyes tried to focus on the woman standing above him. "Why?" Hotch gasped as the electrical currents finally settled down in his body.

She bent down and searched his pockets for his cell phone. Upon finding it she smiled at him again. "Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough," and she bent down and touched the taser to his neck. Hotch couldn't even scream as lights exploded behind his eyes again and everything went black.

"What the hell was that?" Morgan yelled as he and everyone else on the team yanked the comm pieces out of their ears. Almost instantly, Morgan's cell rang. He grabbed it and saw from the ID who it was. He touched the answer button and before he could say anything. . .

"What have you done with my communications?" Garcia asked frantically.

"I was gonna ask you that Baby girl." Morgan answered her. "What was that?"

"I don't know. There was just a sudden surge or something."

"Hey Rossi," Blake answered her phone. "Yeah, it happened to us, too."

Rossi turned to Reid while still on the phone with Blake, "call Hotch."

Reid immediately grabbed his phone and pressed 'call' under Hotch's picture. After waiting several seconds, he turned to Rossi, "no answer."

JJ called Garcia. Garcia pushed a couple of buttons her phone answering JJ's call and patching her in with Morgan's. "I don't know what happened. . ." Garcia started to explain.

"No Garcia," JJ said to stop her. "You still have tracking on the cells?" JJ asked trying to keep the worry out of her voice.

"Of course," Garcia said matter of factly.

"What JJ?" Morgan asked the blonde.

"Hotch is not answering," JJ told everyone.

Garcia tapped a few keys on her computer and a map came up onto her screen. It showed two red dots on the left, three red dots on the right, and one red dot in the middle. "He's right where he's supposed to be," she told everyone.

Rossi could see the young team members visibly relax. "Reception out here is spotty at best," he tried to add to their comfort.

Morgan voice was heard next, "We're done anyway. We'll stop by and get Hotch, and we'll meet you all back at home."

Morgan approached the Taurus from behind. The trunk was still open and the hazards were still blinking. Blake rolled down her window as they came up parallel with the car, "time to pa. . ." she started to say but her breath caught in her throat when she realized the vehicle was empty. Morgan noticed it as the same time and slammed the SUV into park and jumped out. Blake was out, too, and they both had their weapons drawn. Without touching anything, Morgan quickly cleared the car with a frantic search of the back seat. Blake walked around the car, looking for clues as to where her boss might be. Morgan opened the driver's door and reached in and grabbed Hotch's cell phone from the middle of the seat. He showed it to Blake, and she took out her own and called Rossi.

Rossi answered his phone, "Hey Blake." As he listened, he slowed down a little and did a g-force creating U-turn.

"What's wrong?" JJ asked as she held on for dear life.

Rossi threw his phone down, grabbed the wheel with both hands, and slammed on the gas. "Hotch is not in the car." Reid and JJ exchanged worried looks.

It only took Rossi a few minutes to come upon the spot where Hotch's car was parked. They all jumped out and Rossi went up to Morgan. "Any clues?"

"Just this," Morgan said with fear in his voice as he handed Rossi Hotch's phone. The others gathered around as Rossi looked into Morgan's eyes. Rossi took a deep breath. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what had put the fear in in young man's eyes. He let his breath out slowly as he glanced at each of his team members. They were all looking at the phone as Rossi unlocked it.

The screen saver had been changed to a picture of an unconscious Hotch lying on the road at their feet. As horrible as the picture was, what made it painful to look at was what had been drawn on Hotch's bare chest with what looked like blood: an Eye of Providence and the word 'FATE' with an exclamation point. JJ had to look away, Reid's breath caught in his chest, and Blake shook her head in disgust.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 5**

Hotch moaned and started to move his hanging head a little as he noticed his wrists hurt. Almost instantly the foggy haze of unconsciousness fled his mind, though, as he remembered the young woman. His breathing and his heart started racing as he snapped his head up and realized he was suspended above the ground by his wrists. He noticed his wrists were bloody from handcuffs, _probably mine_ he thought dejectedly, digging into him as they struggled against holding the weight of his body. The chain of the handcuffs was hooked to what looked like an industrial cable by a rusty hook. The cable was wrapped around a steal I-beam. Hotch tried to pull himself up and move his shoulders, but his electrified muscles were too tired to allow much movement. He looked down and realized that he was only a few inches off the ground, but even trying to stretch his foot left him about an inch short. He knew he wasn't going to be able to give his arms any relief, so he tried to consciously slow his breathing and heart.

As he looked around, he guessed he was in some sort of abandoned warehouse. The only light was what filtered through the stained fiberglass skylights in the building's ceiling. _Day_, Hotch thought to himself, _but what day?_ He wondered. He tried to remember the events of last night. _If it was last night, _he thought with irritation. He remembered being startled by that woman, going to help her up, and getting tazed. He remembered his confusion at being tazed and thinking that hopefully it was just because she was afraid and didn't trust him. Then he remembered her searching him for something. _What was she looking for?_ He wondered. Then he remembered her smile, not an evil smile, but what did he see? _Was that pity on her face?_ _Why would she pity me?_ He knew she said something to him. He tried his hardest to remember, but the only thing he was sure of was being tazed again. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He could see the woman's face. He could see her lips moving, but for the life of him, he just couldn't remember. _Don't beat yourself up Hotch. You did get shocked with a couple hundred thousand volts_, he told himself. _What the hell had happed? Who was that woman, and how did I get here?_ His mind was racing as he closed his eyes trying to make some sense of what was going on.

He shivered as he realized he was actually cold. He slowed his mind and focused on his body. He finally realized that his coat was gone and that his shirt was ripped opened. He tried not to focus on that and examined his body from the inside. His wrists hurt the most, and his arms weren't completely numb, so he didn't think he had been hanging for a long time. The left side of his neck throbbed, so he figured that's where had been tazed the second time. His stomached growled, and he realized he was extremely hungry and thirsty. It must have been later in the day than he originally thought. _Not bad considering,_ he thought to himself.

Since he was done assessing his person, he decided to assess his surroundings better. He noticed several different types of broken down machinery, steel barrels, empty pallets, and a few years of dust and dirt on everything. There wasn't enough light for him to see the whole building, but the light illuminated enough that he noticed foot prints leading up to where he was hanging. "Humph. . . no drag marks, and the footprints look too big to be a woman's," he actually reasoned aloud. The echo of his voice made him realize the building was bigger than he thought. "So I was carried." He started coming to the conclusion that whoever was holding him prisoner must be a pretty fit man as Hotch is not the lightest man in the world. "Now what do you and that woman want with me?" he kept talking out loud; his own voice giving him a little comfort.

"Really Aaron?" a voice asked from somewhere behind him. Hotch jerked, truly startled by the voice because he thought he was alone. Hotch tried desperately to swing his body around to face his captor. The husky baritone definitely belonged to a man. "You mean you actually have no idea why you're here?" the voiced asked. The little bit of turning Hotch accomplished only allowed him to see darkness. "Maybe this will help you," the voice said and then Hotch heard him take a few steps.

A spotlight illuminated to Hotch's right. Hotch blinked the spots from his eyes, but looking toward the light revealed nothing. As he let his head turn back straight, Hotch noticed a wide, full length mirror about ten feet in front of him. Hotch sucked in his breath as he took in his reflection. He could clearly make out what had been smeared on his chest and abdomen. He also noticed a rabbit's foot hanging from a little chain on his belt. The man behind Hotch laughed maniacally and started walking away. "What do you want from me?" Hotch yelled and the man stopped.

"Well, Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner, I want you to suffer," was all the man said as Hotch heard the footsteps move further away followed by the slamming of a heavy door. Hotch's breathing quicken and he started shaking as all of the terrible memories from the Reaper came flooding in on him like an avalanche.

**XXXXX**

Everyone looked up when Garcia came into the conference room. Blake had found a few drops of blood on the road next to Hotch's undercover car. They figured it was what was used to drawl on Hotch, but they were all praying it wasn't his. They knew Garcia was waiting on the results of the tests, but with the sad look on Garcia's face, they knew they wouldn't like the results.

"The blood was not our fearless leaders," she stated.

"Thank God!" Rossi proclaimed and everyone smiled. Once they noticed the look on Garcia's face, though, everyone looked at her with question. They couldn't figure out why the news hadn't brought the usually happy woman at least a small smile.

"Do we know whose it is?" Reid asked her.

"Unfortunately, yes," she said and Rossi could have sworn he saw her eyes starting to tear up. She clicked a couple of keys on her laptop, and a woman's face appeared on the screen.

"What?!" Rossi and JJ yelled at the same time.

Garcia, fully crying, said, "I don't know how, and I did make them run the test three times to make sure of the results, so it is true."

"My God!" Morgan yelled, rubbing his hand across his bald head as he stared at the face of Haley Hotchner.

None of them could believe their eyes. Rossi rubbed his hand down his face. "We really need to look into the past for this unsub."

"Haley's been dead for over three years, are you trying to tell me someone has been saving her blood all this time? That whoever this is has just been bidding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to start killing and go after Hotch?" JJ asked them. Morgan could tell she was on the verge of breaking down.

"I didn't think blood lasted for more than a month or so," Blake pointed out.

"For blood to be able to last that long, it would have had to have been freeze dried. It is a new technology, so for our unsub to have been able to accomplish this, he has to either have access to the technology or know someone who is," Reid explained.

Garcia took that cue to start researching on her laptop.

Rossi stood up, looked at the picture of Haley again, and took a deep breath through his nose. "I think it's time for me to go see Jessica."

They all looked at him. They knew they were going to have to tell Jessica that Hotch was missing, but no one wanted to volunteer to be the messenger.

"She has a right to know what is going on, and since it doesn't look like we are going to find Hotch immediately, we have to tell her." Rossi knew he should be the one to deliver such news.

"Are you going to tell her everything?" Blake asked.

"Do you think she and Jack are in danger?" JJ asked him as tears slowly made their way down her face.

Rossi looked at each of the team members. "Yes. We can only assume that right now, whoever this unsub is, is picking up where Foyet left off. Jack was on Foyet's hit list."

Morgan took his phone out of his pocket. "I will get things set up at a safe house, and get security set up. You go grab her and Jack and everything will be ready by the time you get back. We are handling this ourselves not the Marshals."

Rossi nodded. Even though Sam had done everything he could to protect Haley and Sam, in the end it wasn't enough. Rossi agreed with Morgan about keeping this in-house. "Alright, I will run over there and be back as soon as I can." Rossi grabbed his stuff and left the conference room.

Reid walked over to JJ. "We won't let anything happen to Jack. We have to protect him for Hotch," he told her giving her a hug.

**XXXXX**

Hotch opened his eyes slowly. He wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep or passed out, but it was getting dark in the building. He didn't even have the strength to pick up his head and wondered if the suffering the man implied was starvation and dehydration as he hung in the dilapidated building. _Stop it!_ he told himself. _Stop being so scared. It's just a copycat. Yeah a copycat can still kill you, but stop letting demons from your past scare into not thinking straight!_ he demanded of himself. He picked his head up and the ache in his neck muscles made him groan.

Being suspended in the air for several hours made for some very strange sensations. He couldn't move his hands, but yet he could tell they were balled into fists. He could imagine his hands were probably a sickly white color, too. His wrists burned and throbbed, but he figured the metal of the cuffs had bit into his flesh as far as they could. He couldn't feel his arms at all, but his shoulders were screaming in pain. With a little chuckle, he wondered what would happen first, would his hands rip off or would his shoulders pop out of their sockets.

He tried to swing his legs to give a little movement to his tingling body but he couldn't. He tried to jerk his legs up by bending his knees, but he couldn't do that either as he felt chains on his ankles. _That's new,_ he thought sarcastically. He wasn't sure he liked the new development or not. It might mean that the man didn't him fighting with his legs when he came back. _That probably means torture_, Hotch thought worriedly. Maybe dying of dehydration didn't sound too bad after all.

Hotch really wished he knew where he was, but he wished his team knew where he was more. He honestly thought that there was no way out of his situation, and that thought rocked him to his very core.

**XXXXX**

Jessica Brooks answered the door, and as soon as she realized it was Rossi, she knew something horrible had happened. "Dave?"

"Can I come in?" Rossi asked with a low tone.

Jessica gave him small smile and led him into the home. "Dave, what is it? I knew the Jack would be staying here last night because Aaron had something going on late last night, but he hasn't even called. Aaron never misses calling Jack before school if Jack stays here," Jessica rambled as she led Rossi into the kitchen.

"Jessica, I think you should sit down." Rossi told her as he pulled out a chair from her table.

"No Dave. Tell me what's going on!" she demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Rossi took a deep breath. He always thought Haley was a strong woman, but her sister could give even Hotch a run for his money in the being stubborn department. "Hotch is missing. He disappeared last night, and we think our unsub has him," he told her straight.

Her face paled, and she decided that taking a seat was probably a good idea as she slid down the back of the chair Rossi had offered her.

"How could this unsub have gotten to him? Did you all not realize how dangerous he could be? Do you know where he is?" She had so many questions she wasn't even sure where to start.

Rossi grabbed her hand and sat down beside her. "Jess," he got her to look at him. "Did Aaron tell you anything about the case we are working?" He needed to know what she knew, even though he thought he already knew the answer.

"Of course not. Aaron never tells us about his cases."

"Then let me start at the beginning because you need to know exactly what is going on." He told her all about the Reaper copycat. She started crying softly as he told her because she knew about Foyet and the case that ended with her sister's death. He had told her everything except for them finding Haley's blood at the scene. There were some things the woman was better off not knowing.

"Aaron didn't think it was connected?" she asked as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.

"No. Even when the unsub tried to tie Haley's death in by placing a locket on the first victim. . ."

"A locket?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, it was a gold locket with pictures of Aaron and Jack in it. We thought it was real, but Hotch adamantly denied ever seeing it," Rossi said but he could tell by the look of her face that his initial assumption was correct. "It wasn't a fake?"

"God! I thought he knew about the locket," she said crying again.

"Jess, where did the locket come from?"

"It was my mothers. She was going to give it to Haley on her next birthday. She had it engraved and had pictures made for it. . ." she sniffled. "But when. . . well, mom wanted it to be buried with her. I thought Aaron had seen it. It was on her at the viewing. . ."

"He was pretty out of it during that whole time," Rossi admitted. He took the locket out of his pocket. Hotch had wanted to throw it away, but Rossi just couldn't bring himself to do it. "Is this it?" he asked as he handed it to her.

She started crying even more as she took the locket into her hand. Rossi knew it was the real thing. "How? How could this guy have gotten it?" she wanted to know.

Rossi told her the truth. "I have no idea. We didn't look into it because Hotch didn't think it was real, but now that we know. . ." Rossi didn't need to go into detail, but knowing the locket was real made this copycat look more and more like the real thing. "Anyway, we want you and Jack to come in so we can protect you. I don't need to tell you how worried we are, and we have no idea if this man's plans include Jack or you."

The reality hit her like a brick, but she knew Rossi and the team would protect them. "I will go get a bag ready. We can pick up Jack on the way," she told him getting up and heading out of the kitchen.

Rossi took a deep breath. He was kicking himself for not finding out the truth about the locket. Maybe Hotch wouldn't have put himself out there as bait had they known. Maybe Hotch would still be with them instead of God knows where and getting God knows what done to him. Rossi sent up a silent prayer for God to look out for his friend, and Rossi also made a silent promise to his friend, _I will protect them Aaron. I will do everything in my power to make sure they do not end up like Haley._

**XXXXX**

"How are we going to find him when we can't even figure out how this unsub got to him?" JJ asked the group.

The trackers and dogs had followed Hotch's scent up through the woods opposite the car. The trail led to an old dirt road that wasn't on any map, but they did find tire tracks. The tracks led to a dead end, though, as forensics told them that the tires where a common light truck, van, or SUV tire sold at almost every store across the area. They all came to the conclusion, though, that the unsub had to have been watching them because there was no other explanation for him to have known where Hotch was.

They had spent all day speculating about what had happened at Hotch's car, theorizing about how the unsub had gotten ahold of Haley's blood, and going over every piece of evidence they had while they waited for Rossi to get back.

"There's no way Hotch let a man sneak up on him. He's too good for that!" Morgan demanded.

"Maybe he used a tranquilizer gun from the woods," Blake offered. "That could be how he was subdued without a fight."

"No," is all Reid said. Everyone looked at him. "The windows were up, so a dart would not have been able to reach him." They all agreed with his logic. "Morgan's right. Hotch is too good to let a _man_ sneak up on him."

JJ was following Reid's train of thought with a smile at their youngest member. "Yeah, Hotch would never let a _man_ sneak up on him." The others looked at JJ and Reid, they were dumbfounded. "But a woman? Hotch would have let his guard down for a woman." JJ could see the wheels turning in their heads.

"That could be why the voice was digitally altered," Reid added.

**XXXXX**

Rossi had waited patiently as Jessica got things together for her and Jack. Then they got in his car and headed to Jack's school. He walked with Jessica into the office and asked for Jack. The secretary gave her a worried look and said she would be right back. As the woman walked into the principal's office, Rossi could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He didn't voice his concern because he wasn't sure what was going on, but he could tell that Jessica was also worried.

The school principal walk over to them, and again, Rossi could see by the look on the woman's face that something wasn't right. "Ms. Brooks," the woman addressed her and then looked at Rossi.

"This is Aaron friend and coworker, Agent Rossi," Jessica told her. "We're here to pick up Jack. Something has happened, and I need to take Jack out of school for a while," Jessica started to explain. With the confused look on the principal's face, she continued. "We will get his work and make sure he. . ."

"But Jack has already been picked up," the woman told them, suddenly very pale.

"What?" Rossi and Jessica asked at the same time.

"An agent was here about an hour ago. He said that he had to pick up Jack and take him to Mr. Hotchner," she started to explain.

"Who?" Rossi asked.

"He was a FBI agent. He had a badge, he . . . he" the woman stammered knowing that something was very wrong.

Jessica started crying. "Did you get his name?" Rossi asked forcibly.

"I. . I don't know. . . he was in a hurry. He said time was of the essence."

"Can you describe him?" Rossi asked.

"He wasn't a real agent was he?" the woman asked getting teary eyed. "We have security tapes. He should be on there," she told them as she led them into her office.

"Go," Rossi told Jessica as he took out his phone to let the team know. They had to act fast, but Rossi already knew that their unsub had gotten his hands on Jack. He couldn't show how scared he was, not in front of Jessica. Again, Rossi mentally kicked himself. Something had told him the locket was real. If he had just followed that feeling. . .

**XXXXX**

Hotch had no idea how long he had hung there, and he wasn't even sure if had stayed awake the whole time, but it did seem like light was starting to fade into the building again. His breathing was raspy, but he knew that was dehydration kicking in. Without liquid, the lungs have a hard time picking up oxygen. Hotch smiled as he imagined Reid spurting out statistics.

"You find your situation funny?" The voice startled Hotch. It sounded very close, but in the dim light he couldn't see anyone. As if reading his mind, lights clicked on. Three rows of old florescent lights buzzed and lit, some of them blinked rapidly with the strain.

As his eyes adjusted, Hotch saw a man standing about where the mirror had been. The man was tall, muscular, and had short black hair. Hotch didn't recognize him, but he could almost feel the evil radiating out of the man's almost black eyes. "No, not funny, but maybe a little ridiculous." Hotch tried to sound confident. "What I do find funny is your delusion."

"My delusion?" the man asked as he walked up to Hotch. Even though Hotch was a few inches off the ground, he was standing eye to eye with him.

"Well, you have to be delusional if you truly think that you are the Reaper," Hotch told him simply.

The man just smiled as he held a very sharp knife up in front of Hotch's face. Hotch's heart skipped a beat. "Just because you thought Foyet was the Reaper, doesn't make it true," the man told him in a cold voice as he let his hand drop to the side.

"I didn't just think it. We had evidence and he was caught red handed!" Hotch told him defiantly.

"Oh. . . so because you found some evidence, and you realized that Foyet killed a couple of people, and then you caught him after he killed your wife, you think he was the Reaper?"

Hotch wasn't sure if his physical condition was effecting his mental condition or not, but he just couldn't figure out what the man was getting at.

The man took a step back. "Let me educate you Aaron," he said as he slid a chair in front of Hotch and sat down. "Foyet was my eighth victim. As he sat there bleeding, I started in on the girl. He watched me, and I could see the lust in his eyes. Lust, not for the girl, but for the blood – for the kill." Hotch looked at the man who was flipping the knife in his hands, smiling. "I decided to let him live, and when he was finally released from the hospital, I found him and gave him a choice." He paused as he looked at his own reflection in the blade.

"And what choice did you give him?" Hotch asked in a low voice as he was starting to get worried.

"An easy one," the man smiled wickedly. "Die or become my protégé." Hotch shut his eyes. _This cannot be true. He has to be making this up,_ Hotch tried to tell himself. "Of course, you know which choice he made." _NO!_ Hotch wanted to scream. "I let him watch me kill my last two victims of the nineties, then I offered the deal to Shaughnessy. When he took it, I started training Foyet; teaching him where and how hard to stab someone depending on whether or not you wanted to kill. The poor man had never even fired a gun until I showed him how," he gloated. He stood up and advanced on Hotch. "What? No smart remarks?"

Hotch didn't know what to say. He so desperately did not want to believe the man.

"When you have a certain set of skills, you want to pass them on," the man said with a smile. "You were his first," he continued. Hotch couldn't look away from the man's eyes. He stepped back and gestured to Hotch's torso, "and he did a pretty good job, too, if I do say so myself." He watched Hotch's face for any reaction. Hotch stayed strong and didn't give him one. "I laughed as he taunted you," he told Hotch. Hotch's eyes narrowed. "You were so in and out of it, you didn't even know I was in the room."

"No!" Hotch told him defiantly.

"No?" he asked with a smile.

"No. There was no one else was there," Hotch insisted.

"Then tell me exactly how that scrawny little shit carried your ass, dead weight I might add, out of your apartment and out to his car?"

Realization ran through Hotch like a cold chill. He had never even thought about that.

"I was the one who said that you needed to go to the ER. He'd gotten too overzealous and you were bleeding out. I wanted you alive, and, of course, you know why." Hotch shut his eyes and let his head fall to his chest, defeated. The man flashed another wicked smile, "after you didn't accept my deal, I was pissed, and Foyet came up with the plan to go after you and your family. The plan was rather ingenious, so I let him plan it and carry it out."

Hotch didn't know what to think. How could he have missed it? Two unsubs? Instantly he knew how, though, because he had fixated on Foyet. He had made it personal. If he hadn't, then he might have seen it.

"While Foyet was good, he got too personal with it." The man, the Reaper, continued. "That's what made him make mistakes and got him caught in the end." He lifted Hotch's chin with the blade. Hotch looked at him. "Tell me, Aaron, how did it feel to smash his face in? How did it feel to beat the life out of another?"

Hotch gritted his teeth. "Good!" he told him truthfully.

"Good, huh?" the Reaper smiled and removed the blade from Hotch's chin. "Yeah, I bet." Hotch just stared at him. "I spent over five years training that man. Then he goes and gets himself killed. Then you all give him all the credit. My credit!" he shouted. "Since you took my protégé from me, I had to find another. Do you know have any idea how long it takes to find the type of person who has the right traits to be a killer?"

"I'm sure there are plenty of psychopaths out there, in fact I know it," Hotch told him flatly. The whole time the Reaper was talking, Hotch's mind was racing. He was trying to figure out what all of this new information meant for him. He didn't know exactly, but he had a strong suspicion that it was going to lead to his death.

"You took my protégé, and that made me suffer, so now you are going to suffer."

_Yep, he's going to kill me_, Hotch thought.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 6**

Morgan grabbed his cell and saw that it was Rossi calling, so he answered it quickly. "Hey Rossi. . ." he started. "WHAT?!" he yelled and everyone in the bullpen jumped at the sound. "How?. . . When?. . . Oh God!. . . Ok. . . Yeah, I'll get Garcia on it. Yep. . . See you when you get here." Morgan let the call end as he rubbed his hand across his bald head.

JJ, Reid, and Blake had gathered around Morgan as he talked on the phone. They all knew something must be horribly wrong for Morgan to be that upset. JJ found her voice first, "What is it Derek?"

Morgan swallowed hard. "He's got Jack."

"What?!" they all asked mimicking Morgan's earlier scream.

"Rossi and Jessica went to the school, but Jack had already been taken by the unsub. Rossi thinks he used Hotch's badge." Morgan let that sink in. "We need to get Garcia in on this. Rossi thinks that this unsub was telling the truth about being the real Reaper. There has to be something in the past that we missed." They all headed to Garcia's lair. "The locket was Haley's, too."

As they entered Garcia's office, a thought hit Reid. "Maybe it was someone at the funeral home."

"All of my children come running in here? This cannot be good." Garcia knew something was wrong by the looks on all of their faces. "You didn't find boss man. . ." she left the statement unfinished. She couldn't voice the horror she was imagining.

"No, but we still have bad news," JJ told her walking up and grabbing Garcia's hand. "Jack's been taken," JJ confessed with tears in her eyes.

"No! No, Rossi was going to get him. He was gonna bring him here to protect him . . ." Garcia started crying.

"The unsub got to him first," Morgan said pulling her into a hug.

"How are we gonna face Hotch now when we couldn't protect his precious boy?" Garcia wanted to know.

Morgan knew they couldn't answer that. He knew that once they found Hotch they would probably find Jack, too. _Hell, Hotch might already know_, Morgan thought angrily.

Reid couldn't think about Jack at the time, though. He couldn't process the fact that their boss's son was now in the same hands as their boss. He just couldn't process the fact that they had failed both of the Hotchner men. "Garcia, Rossi thinks there might be a connection between our unsub and the funeral home that handled Haley," he told her.

Garcia wiped her eyes with her hands and sat in her seat. She was beyond upset, but her boss needed her, now more than ever. "What's the name?"

"Jones Funeral Home of Alexandria, Virginia," Reid told her. "The locket Rossi found was real. Jessica said that it was supposed to be buried with Haley."

Garcia sucked in her breath as she thought of the implications of that statement. She started typing away.

"Look at employees at the time of the funeral," Blake told her.

"Rossi should have emailed a surveillance video from the school, they caught him on camera. You can run it through facial recognition," Morgan told her squeezing her shoulders. With that, she brought up the video. They all stared all the man who held their boss and now Jack, too. "Rossi said the cameras were just put in at the beginning of the week, so he probably didn't even know they were there," Morgan told them.

Garcia manipulated the screen shot until they had a good picture of just the man's face, but neither of them recognized him. He even looked evil; the sight of him made JJ shudder, and his smile sent a chill through Garcia.

**XXXXX**

Hotch had no idea how long he had hung there since the man, _The Reaper_, had left, but it had gotten dark and then started getting light again. Hotch wasn't sure if he'd been awake the whole time, and he wasn't even sure if it was the next day. If it wasn't for the sunlight coming in through the skylights, Hotch would have no sense of time. In some ways, time seemed to have frozen, but in other ways, it seemed to fly by. Hanging by his wrists all alone in the abandoned building had Hotch thinking about all kinds of things. He had decided that if he made it out of his 'situation', that he was going to make it a point to spend more time with his son. He was also going to let his team know how much he truly cared about them. He vowed he would try to lighten up some at work, too. He normally tried to keep it straight laced at work while everyone else played around and teased each other, but now he knew that life was too short to be a hard ass all the time. He also thought about his personal life. Things hadn't worked out with Beth the way he had hoped, but he knew she wasn't the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He wasn't sure why, but he just knew. In his weakened condition he had thought of someone else. He had thought of Emily Prentiss. _Really? Emily?_ He really couldn't figure out why he had thought of her, but he knew that if he survived, she would be the one to talk to, so he also vowed to call her when this was over. She had been on the team, she had been there for him when everything happened with Foyet, and she had survived her ordeal with Doyle. He just knew that she would understand; that she would be willing to let him talk and work things through.

The sound of a door slamming brought him out of his thoughts. Hotch couldn't see him yet, but he knew who was coming towards him. As the Reaper looked Hotch up and down, he chuckled. "What? Didn't expect me back so soon?" Hotch didn't answer him. The Reaper offered him a canteen. "Take a drink. You're going to need to keep your strength up to live through what I have planned."

Hotch could feel his dry throat scream at the thought of water, but he kept his lips closed and turned away from the canteen. He would rather die of dehydration.

The Reaper forcibly grabbed Hotch's chin, forced his mouth open, poured some water in, and held his nose and mouth shut, making Hotch swallow. He did the whole process several times while Hoch coughed and choked on the water. Once he was done, he threw the canteen down. "I won't let you kill yourself Aaron. I want you alive."

"Fuck you!" Hotch spit the words.

"No thanks, maybe later," the Reaper said with an evil grin.

Hotch swallowed hard. _I really hope he isn't serious_, Hotch thought with a shudder. Hotch then noticed that the Reaper was holding a knife again. It wasn't a huge knife, but it was big enough to do some serious damage. _He probably doesn't want to use a big knife, that would kill me too quickly_, he thought sarcastically.

"First, I want to know one thing." He stepped up to Hotch examining the scars Foyet had left. Hotch watched him closely. "I want to know if it hurts more or less as the blade penetrates the scar tissue." He focused on one of the scars under Hotch's right ribs and slid the extremely sharp blade into Hotch's belly. Hotch bit his lip to stifle the scream that wanted to escape. The Reaper watched Hotch closely and then slowly removed the blade. Blood flowed freely from the wound as Hotch gasped for air. "You can scream, you know. No one will hear you."

"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction!" Hotch half yelled.

"Oh. . . you will," he laughed. "You will."

After about four more stabs of the horrible knife, and the loss of blood, Hotch was too weak to hold back his screams. His screams made the Reaper laugh.

Whether it was because he was targeting the same places as Foyet, or because of the position his body was in, Hotch thought the wounds hurt more. In his pain rattled mind, it didn't make any sense. He would have thought the less sensitive scar tissue would have helped protect him.

The Reaper readied the dripping knife again. This time, though, it didn't go in smoothly. He had to wiggle it to get past one of Hotch's ribs which, of course, made Hotch scream even louder. The darkness was threatening to enclose him, and Hotch blissfully let it.

The reaper pulled the knife back out, and he noticed that Hotch didn't even moan. He had been so fixated on the blood and the act that he hadn't been watching Hotch's face. "Humph!" He was disgusted as he lifted up Hotch's head. He let it go and it just plopped back down to his chest. Hotch being unconscious took all the fun out of torturing him. He cleaned his knife on Hotch's pants, shut off the lights, and just left Hotch hanging there again.

**XXXXX**

After Rossi got Jessica settled at the safe house and made sure she had plenty of security, he headed back to the BAU. Garcia hadn't had any luck with facial recognition, but she had been able to find out that there was a man matching their description of the unsub who worked part time at the funeral home. Morgan and JJ had headed over there with a picture to find out for sure, and to find out all they could about the man. They had also gotten a lead on a woman that might have been involved. Garcia had tracked a suspicious email account that mentioned the tazing of an FBI agent, so Reid and Blake were going to an internet café in Dale City.

With the team elsewhere, Rossi went in and sat in Hotch's office. He knew they might luck out and actually get some information that might lead them to their unsub, but he just couldn't allow himself to get his hopes up. Hotch was in trouble and now Jack was, too. Rossi would have given anything to just to be able to go back in time. Even if he would not have been able to persuade Hotch not to be the bait, he would have been able to get Jack into protective custody before the unsub had the chance to strike. Rossi slammed his fist down onto Hotch's desk. The vibrations made Hotch's pen holder topple over. Rossi quickly picked it back up. _Hotch would be pissed if he came back and saw his desk messed up_, Rossi thought. The thought made Rossi grin, Hotch's desk would be the last thing Hotch would worry about. _I am so sorry, Aaron. I should have protected Jack, and I failed you. _Rossi dropped his head into his hands a let himself cry.

**XXXXX**

Hotch dreamt he was drowning. He swallowed some water as he desperately fought to reach the surface. He finally made it as he coughed and sputtered. Just as he was about to take a breath, though, he was plunged back under. "Wake up and drink you dumbass!" the Reaper screamed. Still in the dream, Hotch broke the surface again. He inhaled sharply trying to get as much air as possible. Suddenly, his dream dissolved into his real life nightmare as the pain from his torso slammed back into his conscious body. Hotch opened his eyes to see the Reaper's evil grin. "Yes, Aaron, you're still here."

Hotch noticed that it was dark in the building, _damn, how long have I been out?_ He wondered.

"A new night brings new suffering," the Reaper told him as he spun his knife in his hand.

_A new night? Shit!_ Hotch thought with despair.

"You know, Aaron, Foyet was like a son to me," the Reaper started. At the mention of the word 'son', Hotch thought about Jack. Jack was going to lose both of his parents and a tear escaped Hotch's eye as he thought of the suffering Jack had faced and would have to face again.

"And since you took my son," he paused so Hotch would look at him, "I'm gonna take yours." He said with a sadistic grin.

Hotch may have been wounded and weak, but the thought of this psychopath touching his son gave him renewed energy. He trashed and yelled, "Don't you touch him!" Even though both his feet and his hands were chained, Hotch came pretty close to the Reaper. "Let me down you son of a bitch! Why can't you fight me like a man?"

The Reaper took a step back and laughed as Hotch fought against his chains. "Now why would I do that? I don't want to kill you outright, which I surely would. I want you to suffer."

"You're a coward! You can't face anyone man to man!" Hotch was furious. "Why? Did your daddy beat you when you were little? Did he turn you into a coward who has to hide behind a knife or a gun?" Hotch was yelling – baiting the man. He would gladly give his life for his son.

"I know what you're doing, and it won't work. You can't make me mad enough to kill you," the Reaper explained quietly.

Any adrenalin that was keeping Hotch fighting was slowly evaporating. He was defeated and he knew it. Tears were streaming down his face. "Don't hurt my son," he pleaded.

The Reaper just chuckled. "Tell me Aaron, does little Jack like staying with his Aunt Jessica?"

_How could he know that?_ Hotch asked himself as he could feel anger rising within him. That rage gave him new vigor. "Stay away from him!" he screamed and trashed against his chains even more. Every one of the slices in his torso screamed with the movement, but the rage building in him helped block the pain out. "If you touch him, I will kill you!" He yelled. He could feel the warmth of the blood that started to freely flow from his wounds again.

"Wow! You said that like you mean it," The Reaper teased him.

"I swear to you, I will kill you my last breath!" Hotch told him through clinched teeth.

The Reaper just laughed. "Well then, I guess I need to make sure you aren't capable of that." Hotch just stared at him as the Reaper removed his knife from its sheath. _Maybe now he's mad enough to kill me_, Hotch hoped. _With me dead, he will have no reason to go after Jack._ The reaper stared at Hotch's blood covered torso. "Not much space left up here," he told Hotch and started unbuckling Hotch's belt. _Oh shit!_ Hotch thought. The Reaper could see the fear in Hotch's eyes, and it excited him. He unbuttoned Hotch's pants and pulled them down leaving Hotch wearing nothing but the ripped shirt and a pair of black tight-fitting boxers. The pants were held around Hotch's ankles by the chains hooked there, so the Reaper bent down and started to cut them off. Hotch used every bit of strength he had to trash and draw his knees up. He connected with the reaper's face, but since Hotch couldn't move that much, he really didn't do any damage. It just enraged the Reaper, so he slammed a fist into Hotch's midsection hitting one of the nastier cuts. The air escaped Hotch's lungs in a rush and the pain almost made him black out again. Hotch hung there gasping for breath as he wished he would have passed out; a_t least I can't feel any pain when I'm unconscious._

The Reaper smiled at Hotch as Hotch tried to look brave. The Reaper brought the knife up quickly, but Hotch didn't flinch, and that made the Reaper laugh. Apparently he didn't want Hotch wearing any clothes as he went to slicing the rest of Hotch's shirt off. "The canvas must be exposed for the artist to create his work," the Reaper said sadistically.

**XXXXX**

When JJ and Morgan returned they found Rossi asleep with his head on Hotch's desk. JJ didn't want to wake him, but they had to report on what they found out. She waited for Morgan to go get Garcia, though, before she gently shook Rossi's shoulder. Rossi jumped like he had been punched but settled down when he realized that it was JJ touching him. "Hey," he said sleepily.

"Hey. We got some concrete evidence. Morgan's getting Garcia, and Reid and Blake have tracked down the girl from the café. They are with her now."

Rossi stood up and stretched. "Let me grab some coffee and I'll meet you in the conference room."

"I'll join you. I could use some coffee."

"I could use something a lot stronger," Rossi told her with a smile. JJ could tell that he had been crying. _There's a lot of that going around_, JJ thought sadly.

Garcia was typing and talking to Reid at the same time. They had found the woman connected to the email. "Yes. Samantha Crain," Reid told her the name.

After several seconds of extreme typing, Garcia told him, "No she's clean. One parking ticket in Alexandria is all she's got. Her family doesn't have much money, and according to her W-2s, I would say she is paying her way through college."

"Yeah, that matches her story," Reid told her.

"Hey, Pretty Boy, Did she identify the unsub from the pictures as the guy who hired her?" Morgan asked.

Blake spoke up next, "She thinks it was him. She said he had sunglasses on. She also noticed a tattoo, though. She said it was, get this, a grim reaper on his right forearm."

"That's him. Get back here as soon as you can," Morgan advised them.

"Did I hear something about a tattoo?" Rossi asked walking through the door.

"Well, Richard Cypress, our guy in the photo and the same man who worked at the funeral home, has a grim reaper tattooed on his right forearm," JJ told him as they sat down.

"That's how he got Haley's blood and locket. No one even knew anything about it. He was a custodian. He apparently did all this after they were closed. With the casket not being opened after the viewing, no one realized that the locket was missing," Morgan explained.

Garcia was busy looking up the man on her computer. Rossi could tell by the look on her face that she didn't like what she was finding. He turned back to JJ, "how did a custodian get blood?"

"Mr. Jones explained to us that after each body is embalmed, the blood is thrown into Hazardous Waste receptacles. He assumed Richard must have taken Haley's out."

"Really guys? You have to discuss embalming and blood receptacles in front of me?" Garcia cringed.

"Well, what have you got for us, Baby Girl?" Morgan asked putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I think this might be him. Richard Cypress was born and raised in Boston. He left the area and became the invisible man for a few years, but then showed back up in Virginia about five years ago."

"Does he have a record?" Rossi wanted to know.

"Not a criminal record, but he did spend some time in the Marines. He received a medical discharge after breaking his back and spent nine months in rehab. His military file is full of accommodations, and he was in a Special Ops Unit. Damn it!"

Rossi gave her a concern look, "What is it kitten?"

"Aren't those special ops guys like crazy good at killing and stuff?"

"Let's not try to add any nightmares to our minds. . . " Rossi started.

"Too late," Garcia said as she was about to cry again.

"Hey woman," Morgan made Garcia look at him. "Hotch and Jack are alive until we have proof otherwise!"

"I know. I know. It's just. . ." Garcia wrung her hands but stopped and stood up. They looked at her with sympathy. "If there is anything to find on this SOB, I will find it. I am going to call Kevin, and we will find him!" She told them with renewed energy.

"We know you will because there's no one better," Rossi told her as he hugged her. With that she went back to her office.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 7**

Hotch had no clue what the Reaper had in store for him. He had stripped him of his clothes and just left him. He wasn't even sure how long he had been gone. Hotch had fallen asleep _or passed out again_, he thought painfully, and he could tell that the sun was fully up. He thought it strange that he wasn't in more pain. He knew he was badly wounded, and he could feel all of the sticky blood that was drying on his abdomen, but the dull ache should have been worse. He also knew that he should have been hungry and thirsty, but he really didn't feel that way either. He knew, too, that the temperature in the building was affecting him. He had stopped shivering a while ago, but he could see that his body was turning a purplish blue, which mixed with the white of his skin into a strange twisted tortoise shell kind of pattern. _You look like a flipping alien!_ He joked with himself. _Don't curse the cold, it's probably keeping the bleeding in check! _He did feel that he was getting weaker, though, and he almost laughed at the strange way his body was reacting to his ordeal. _Ordeal? Ordeal? It's fucking torture - don't try to sugar coat it, moron!_

The slamming of a door brought Hotch out of his thoughts. He could hear the Reaper's heavy footsteps approaching. "This art show needs an audience, don't you think?" The Reaper asked Hotch with a smile that gave Hotch a deeper chill than the cold air ever could. Hotch didn't say anything, though, he could just imagine a video camera and Garcia's face as the video appeared on her screen. "I think it does," the Reaper said as he walked past Hotch. "Not a big audience, though," he half yelled so Hotch could still hear him. Hotch could hear him making noises and he thought he heard a door open. "Just one special guest," he yelled. Hotch thought he could hear something _maybe whining? _Then Hotch thought he could hear him coming back, and he also heard some shuffling.

Hotch had his neck craned as far as it would go, and as soon as the Reaper came back into view, Hotch's heart stopped. "No!" he yelled as soon as he saw what the Reaper was half dragging.

"Daddy?" came Jack's question beneath the cloth bag that was covering his head.

"Jack!" Hotch yelled when the Reaper brought him around to the front of Hotch. "Let him go you son of a bitch!" Hotch demanded as the Reaper took the bag off Jack.

Jack stared wild eyed at his father. He could clearly see all of the wounds and blood that covered most of his very pale body. "Daddy!" Jack cried as he struggled against the Reaper's strong hands. "Let me go! Leave my daddy alone!" The little man demanded as he stomped on the Reaper's foot.

"Ouch! You little Shit!" the Reaper yelled as he grabbed Jack by the hair.

"Let him go!" Hotch screamed again as the Reaper pulled Jack towards a cage that Hotch hadn't even noticed before. Hotch struggled against his chains. He ignored the pain as he continued to yell at the Reaper and Jack. Jack was struggling to get loose and the Reaper just hurt Jack more. "Jack! Don't fight him Jack!" Hotch pleaded with his son; he couldn't stand to see his son being hurt.

The Reaper violently shoved Jack into the cage. Jack landed on his knees about halfway across of it, but he immediately got up and ran towards the door. The Reaper slammed the door closed and locked it. Jack shook the door as he tried to reach the lock through the bars, but he was way too short to reach it. Hotch would have smiled at his son's tenacity, but the realization of his son being in the hands of this psycho almost made his heart stop beating.

"See Jack? Didn't I promise you that you were gonna see your daddy?" The Reaper asked him with an evil grin.

Hotch wanted to die. Why hadn't he realized that Jack was in danger? He knew this man tried over and over to convince him that he was the real Reaper. If Hotch hadn't been so stubborn, not wanting to believe the truth, he would have seen the danger his son was in. He silently hoped to God that nothing had happened to Jessica.

**XXXXX**

After a lot of searching, Garcia had found Richard Cypress' home outside of Manassas, Virginia. He had bought it using his mother's maiden name and that had made it very hard to trace. The team and SWAT was on their way there, and Garcia had everything crossed in hopes that they would find her boss man and his little G-man.

It was late and Garcia was extremely tired, but she couldn't go home until she heard from her team. She had sent Kevin home because she thought one of them should have some sleep in case they needed computer help later. Waiting was not her forte, though, so she brought up her email. She smiled as she opened an email that she had received sometime last week. JJ had sent her pictures of Henry and Jack at the park. Her eyes welled up as she looked at Jack's smiling face. _We'll get you back pumpkin. Aunt Penny still needs to spoil her little G-man._

Just then Garcia got an IM. "What the hell are you doing up so late? Are you and Morgan watching movies and eating popcorn?" Emily Prentiss typed from across the Atlantic. She quickly added a smiley face who was sticking out its tongue.

Garcia's heart sank. How could she tell her raven haired friend about what was happening to her extended family? "Garcia?" came the next message. Garcia took a deep breath and typed: "You got time for long, disturbing phone call?" Garcia hadn't even had time to wonder if Prentiss was going to answer her when her phone rang. She jumped a little; she knew Morgan and them couldn't be at the house yet. Her caller ID showed that it was Prentiss, so she answered it with the thought of being strong.

"Ooohhhh Emily. . ." she instantly started crying. _Profilers stay strong – not her._

After Prentiss got Garcia calmed down enough to understand her, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. _Not Hotch, not again!_ After Garcia filled her in on everything that had happened, Prentiss finished the call with a promise to be on the first flight back.

"What about your job?" Garcia asked.

"Clyde will understand, and if not he can go to hell! This is Hotch and Jack we're talking about!"

After the call, Garcia felt a little hopeful that maybe Emily might bring them the luck they needed. After a couple of more minutes, though, she thought about Morgan and Rossi. Would they be mad at her for telling? Would they see it as a sign that Garcia didn't trust them to get the job done? _To hell with their egos! Two of my beloved family members are lost and in danger!_

**XXXXX**

"Well, Jackie boy, you wanna hear your daddy scream?" The Reapers asked over his shoulder as he advanced on Hotch.

"No!" Jack yelled as the Reaper focused on Hotch's leg. He drew the blade down Hotch's thigh, leaving an inch deep gash in its wake. Hotch bit his lip to try to hold back his screams. He gasped for air as he tried to breath past the pain. Jack was screaming, "stop! Stop hurting my daddy!" The screams made the Reaper smile widely.

"Jack! Close your eyes Jack! Don't watch!" Tears were trailing down Hotch's cheeks, and not just from the pain, but from the horrors that his poor son was witnessing, _and it all my fault._

"What Jack? You don't want me to do this?" the Reaper asked looking over his shoulder to watch Jack's reaction to him pulling the blade across Hotch's calf. Hotch tried to stifle the scream to save his son from hearing his pain, but it hurt so much!

"Daddy!" Jack screamed as he cried uncontrollably.

"Jack, shut your eyes buddy!" Hotch pleaded with his son. Jack tried to say something, but Hotch couldn't understand him through his sobs. "Jack, I am so sorry! Turn around, Jack, don't watch! Please buddy!" Hotch was openly crying, too.

"No, Jack, don't turn around. You don't want me to kill your daddy do you?" the Reaper asked as he turned to face Jack.

"No!" Jack fell to his knees, his poor little body convulsing with his sobs.

"God damn you! Leave him alone! Kill me if you want, but leave my son alone!" The Reaper turned back to Hotch.

"No!" Jack screamed again.

"Oh Aaron, your love for your son is almost touching," the Reaper paused in his torture and feigned a sympathetic look. "But the noise your son is making is driving me crazy!" He looked over his shoulder, "Shut up!" That just made Jack cry louder. "Aaron, tell that little brat of yours to shut up, or I am going to have to shut him up!"

Hotch took a couple of deep breaths to control his own crying. "Jack, please buddy, please stop crying," Hotch tried to settle his son. "Daddy's OK, buddy. Really, daddy's fine," he tried lying to sooth his son's fears. It just made Jack break down even more because Jack knew it was a lie.

"I'll kill him Jack! If you don't want to be responsible for your daddy's death, Jack, you better stop that incessant bawling!"

Jack looked at his daddy. Hotch could see the fear in his son's eyes, but he settled down a little.

"Good boy Jackie," the Reaper told him and turned his attention back to Hotch. "Now where were we?" He looked Hotch's injured leg up and down. "Hmmm," he was trying to figure out where to strike next.

Hotch was staring at Jack. His son was sobbing but he locked eyes with Hotch. Hotch tried to smile. He would have given anything to just be able to hold him. He mouthed 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you'. Jack understood and tried to smile back. Just then, a scream escaped Hotch as the Reaper slammed his knife into Hotch's foot. Jack screamed, too and threw his hands over his eyes. The pain was excruciating. None of the other wounds hurt as bad as the new one. Hotch figured it was because none of the other wounds penetrated all the way through his body. Hotch was sure some of the thin bones in his foot had been shattered by the blade. Hotch's heart was beating even faster. _Was that even possible?_ Hotch wondered, trying to get his breathing under control.

Once Hotch was able to slow his breathing some, another scream escaped him as the Reaper pulled the blade out in a twisting motion to do even more damage. Jack was crying louder again. The poor boy was holding on to the bars of his cage, shaking them violently.

"Shut up!" the Reaper yelled again. Jack put his hands over his mouth trying his hardest to stop. Hotch's heart broke a little more at the sight. "Where to now, Aaron?" the Reaper asked looking over Hotch's body. "Here?" he asked sliding the knife up the middle of Hotch's legs and across his boxers. Hotch tried not to show his fear. He couldn't even imagine the pain the man could inflict if he attacked such a sensitive area as his manhood.

**XXXXX**

After sweeping Cypress' home, and not finding Hotch or Jack, Morgan called Garcia to give her the news and told her to go home. They had found some evidence, and he told her they were going to need her and Kevin on it in the morning. After they gave the crime scene units their orders, the team headed back to the BAU. Rossi knew they all needed to go home, but he also knew that the team could be very stubborn. "I think we all need to go home and get some sleep. We can meet back at the BAU at 9:00." They all started to argue, so he tried logic on them. "I think we need to look at the evidence we collected with fresh eyes. We will not be able to find Hotch and Jack if all of us are too exhausted to see the clues in the information in front of us." They all conceded silently, they knew he was right. As soon as they got back, Rossi refused to even allow them into the building. He made sure they all got in their vehicles and drove away before he headed inside.

Yes, he knew that he needed sleep, too, but he also knew that driving home wasn't going to make that happen. He would just pace and think and drink. If he stayed at the office he would at least be able to get some work done. He looked around the empty bullpen and his guilty conscious threatened to crush him. How could he have not listened to his feeling about the locket? How could he have been stupid enough to allow Hotch to be the bait? How could he have not realized that he should have gone to Jack before going to Jessica's? He knew Jack was in danger, but he was dumb enough to go talk to Jessica first. _Hotch will never trust me again! I'll never be able to look him in the eyes again. You won't have to worry about that, Dave, if you can't figure out how to save him first!_ Rossi continued beating himself up as he headed to the conference room. _Something, I have to be missing something!_

**XXXXX**

Emily got off the phone with Clyde. He had told her to take all the time she needed, but that she had to keep him informed. She promised she would and went home to pack a bag. Her 'go bag' was always ready, but she figured she was going to need more than a few days' worth of clothes than the bag offered. She had wanted to go back to DC to visit her friends, but not for something like this. _Be careful what you wish for!_ She thought sarcastically. As she packed the suitcase she sent up a silent prayer for God to watch over Hotch and Jack. She also sent a silent prayer to Hotch, _we're coming Aaron._

Once packed, she headed to the airport. Her assistant had booked a seat for her on the next flight. She had an hour before it took off, but she would rather wait at the airport then wait in her empty home. On her way she couldn't help but remember all of the times she had seen her former boss' son. She loved that little boy – they all did. She knew it was bad enough on the team for Hotch to be missing, but it had to be almost impossible to deal with Jack being gone, too.

The whole team had heard the phone call from Foyet that broadcasted Haley's death, and they all had proverbially held their breath until they knew Jack was alright. They had rallied around Hotch and Jack, and they all became unofficial aunts and uncles. _Well, Rossi is more like a grandpa_, Emily thought with a small smile.

Every one of them had taken it upon themselves to make sure that Hotch and Jack had everything they needed. The team had always considered themselves a family, but Hotch's and Jack's tragedy seemed to intensify those family bonds. And now, that family was in danger of losing two of its members – two of its main members, and Emily's heart broke a little at the thought. Emily knew the team would find them, she just prayed that it would be before it was too late.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 8**

After the Reaper had threatened to turn Hotch into a eunuch and he could see the desperation in Hotch's eyes, he laughed uncontrollably for a few minutes. Once he finally stopped laughing. He looked at his watch and told Hotch that he would give him a break. Before he left, though, he offered Hotch a canteen. Hotch didn't say anything as he cooperated and took several long drinks. The cool water was the best thing he had ever tasted. Hotch felt a little ashamed for not fighting the Reaper over the water like before, but he knew the big man would just force it on him again, and Hotch didn't want Jack to see that on top of everything else. The Reaper then tried to give Jack the canteen. When Jack wouldn't take it, the Reaper just sat it on the floor inside the cage. After that, he turned off the lights and left.

As soon as Hotch heard the door slam he turned his attention to his son. He could no longer see him in the dark, but he could clearly hear him still sobbing quietly. "Buddy?"

"Yeah Daddy?"

"I am so sorry Jack. I never wanted anything to ever happen to you."

"I know." Jack's breathing started to settled and Hotch knew he had stopped crying. "Are you gonna die Daddy?"

It was such a simple question. Hotch wanted to lie – to tell him that everything was going to be alright, but Hotch couldn't do it. "I don't know Buddy. I hope not, but I really don't know what this guy will do me."

"What about Uncle Dave and them? Are they gonna come help?"

"I know they are looking for us, but I don't know when they'll find us. Are you OK, Jack?" Hotch heard a sniffle and he could imagine Jack squaring his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about you."

Hotch heart melted a little. Jack was one of the most caring people he knew. _He got his heart from his mother, _he thought with a sad smile. "Jack, can you find the canteen?" He heard Jack feeling around in the dark.

"Got it."

"You need to drink, Jack." Hotch listened to his son gulping down several drinks and then he heard him put the canteen back on the floor. He took a deep breath, he needed to ask Jack a few questions, but he was suddenly feeling very tired. In the silence, Hotch could hear blood dripping from his leg and foot hitting the floor in a steady rhythm. _Am I bleeding out?_

"Daddy, I feel funny." Jack said as he sat down heavily.

_No!_ Hotch frantically wanted to be able to see. "Jack! Buddy? Talk to me!"

"I'm really tired. . . "

"Jack!" Hotch yelled but heard Jack fall completely to the floor. Hotch's mind was racing, was it poison? _No. He's a sadistic bastard who has to be in control! He wouldn't poison us._ Hotch could feel himself slipping away. _It's just some drug. . . he wouldn't kill us this. . ._ and his chin hit his chest.

**XXXXX**

Richard Cypress rounded the bend in the road and saw all of the lights from multiple police vehicles that filled up the road in front of his house. He smiled to himself and casually took the next right before his house. He was happy that his was not the only house down this road. He wasn't mad. He was impressed. _Maybe Foyet wasn't such a disappointment after all. If they found me, then I shouldn't be mad that they found him._ He would just have to stay somewhere else for the night. _I'll just have to deal with the Hotchner men faster then I planned._ If they found his house, then it probably wouldn't be long before they found the warehouse. _And by the time they do, the Hotchners will be dead, and I'll be long gone!_

**XXXXX**

Reid was the first one to arrive at the BAU in the morning. He walked into the bullpen and almost dropped his coffee. Someone was sitting at his desk with her head down. At first he thought it was Blake, but the hair that was sprawled all over his desk was too dark. _Could it be?_ He wondered as he walked closer. He sat his bag and coffee down quietly on the adjoining desk but not quietly enough. The resting woman picked her head up and Emily smiled at the man she considered her younger brother. "Emily!" Reid yelled as she stood up and hugged him. Reid held her tight, the horrible feelings he was having very evident at the moment.

"God, Reid, I missed you!" She told him holding him just as tight to let him know that she understood what wasn't said.

"Prentiss?" Morgan yelled as soon as he entered the bullpen and saw who was hugging Reid.

"Morgan!" She said with a sad smile as she let go of Reid and met Morgan half way across the room. She quickly hugged her ex-partner. They both looked toward the doors when they heard them open. "JJ!" She ran over and held her unofficial sister. JJ couldn't hold back her tears as Emily held her and told her it was going to be OK. Reid joined the two women and placed a comforting hand on JJ's shoulder.

JJ got herself under control and looked Emily in the eyes. "I take it you know?"

"Garcia told me everything." Prentiss admitted. They heard chatting and looked up to see Garcia and Kevin entering. _Speaking of the devil_.

Garcia dropped her bag and ran to Emily. "Peaches, you're here!" She yelled with a wide grin and hugged her sister-like friend.

Once Emily got done hugging Kevin, Blake arrived. Morgan stepped up to introduce them. "Emily Prentiss – Alex Blake."

"I've heard a lot about you," Blake told her with a smile and a handshake.

"Likewise," Emily told her returning the smile.

"Where's Rossi?" Garcia asked. "His car's here."

"He's asleep in the conference room," Emily told them. "He was there when I got here."

"Damn it! That means he didn't go home last night," Morgan said with a glare directed at no one.

"I'll go wake him," Emily said with a smile as she headed for the conference room. She had walked in on Rossi earlier. She surmised that he had fallen asleep looking through the files. She had also noticed the bottle of scotch and the tumbler that were normally locked away in Hotch's desk drawer. She had silently taken them back because she didn't think Rossi would want the team to know. Not that they would judge, Rossi would just prefer to keep his guilt private. Her heart cried for the man she thought of like an uncle. Garcia had told her about Rossi blaming himself, and she knew that Rossi thought of Aaron like a son; so she couldn't imagine how much pain the older man must be in. She sighed heavily and put her hand gently on his back. He stirred a little. "Agent Rossi? . . . Agent Rossi, there's someone here to see you," she told him in a quiet voice.

He moaned as he started to move aching muscles. He looked at Emily sleepily. She smiled at him. His eyes got wide as he finally realized who he was looking at. "Princess!" he said with a smile and quickly stood up and hugged her.

"Hey Dave."

He pushed her back to arm's length and gave her a once over. Seeing she was real and in good shape, he pulled her intro another hug. "God I've missed you!"

Emily hugged him back, "me too!"

"You know?"

"Yeah," she told him as he released her.

"God Emily. . . I don't know. . ."

She pulled him into another hug. "Don't worry, Dave, we'll find them." After a few moments, Dave let her go and searched the table. "I put them away," she told him, knowing what he was looking for.

He gave her a small smile. "Is the team here? When did you get in?"

"Yes and about one and a half hours ago. I'll get them." She stepped out of the door and called for everyone. She noticed Strauss standing with them and nodded to her. She had already talked to Strauss, so she knew she was welcomed in the BAU.

**XXXXX**

Hotch awoke with a searing pain in his injured foot. The Reaper had apparently hit it to wake him up. His head immediately snapped toward Jack. _Thank God!_ Jack was already awake and standing up. _Just drugs_, he realized happily. Jack's smaller and better physically fit body must have metabolized the drugs faster. The building was bright so Hotch figured that it must have been around mid-day. He looked at the Reaper and saw that the man already had his knife in hand. _Maybe poison would have been better._ Hotch noticed, though, that the Reaper seemed a little anxious. _Something has happened. But what? Maybe the team is getting close._ Hotch thought hopefully.

"So where to next, Aaron?" he asked as if asking for directions on a street corner.

Hotch swallowed hard and tried to get the foggy remnants of the drug out of his mind.

"How about here?" The Reaper asked touching Hotch's good thigh with his knife. "Or here?' he asked dragging the knife down the scruffy beard that had been growing on Hotch's face.

The Reaper seemed in a hurry. By his mood, Hotch knew it wouldn't be long until the Reaper killed him. _And after that? Oh God! Jack would be alone with this psycho. Please, God, no! _Hotch sent a silent plea to his team,_ If you're getting close guys, please hurry_.

"Or here?" the Reaper pulled Hotch out of his thoughts. He was dragging the tip of his knife down the underneath of Hotch's right bicep. The blade was cutting the skin, but Hotch felt nothing.

Hotch sent up a silent 'thank you' for his arms being numb from hanging so long. Thinking quickly, Hotch let a look of fear cross his face. If he could fool the Reaper into focusing on a part of his body that was numb, maybe he could spare his son a few screams.

The Reaper sank about two inches of the knife into Hotch's arm right below his elbow. "When messing with the arms, one must be careful not to hit the Brachial Artery, unless of course you want them to bleed out." He finished his psychopathic lesson with a smile. Hotch sucked in his breath and bit his lip trying to make the Reaper believe that he was in pain. It hurt, but not as bad as it could have. Hotch wondered how long his arms would take before the Reaper moved to his other leg or the only part of his body not yet touched. His thoughts were interrupted, though, as the Reaper slid the blade down Hotch's arm as if he was trying to dissect his bicep. Pain exploded as it became stronger than the numbness.

**XXXXX**

Everyone filed into the conference room quietly. They waited to see what Strauss wanted to say. Once everyone was seated, Strauss looked at them all with a sad smile. "Are we any closer to finding Agent Hotchner and his son?" she asked. Once they gave her an update on the night raid she nodded her understanding. "While I have the utmost respect for this team, and I do trust that you will find them," she paused and smiled at Emily, "but I also know we can use all the help we can get." Several of the team members nodded their agreement. "Therefore, I have graciously asked Interpol to borrow Ms. Prentiss, and they have loaned her to us until this thing is solved. She has been temporarily reinstated and she has her credentials." With smiles all around, she nodded and left them to their case.

"Wow! I just thought it would be nice to have the emotional support, but to have tactical support, too?" Garcia was beyond ecstatic.

"Let's save the round of drinks, until Hotch can drink one with us," Emily told her.

"Yeah. I was thinking about that freeze dried blood Reid mentioned," Rossi started.

"You mean you were thinking and working when you were supposed to be sleeping?" Morgan asked him out of the corner of his eye.

Rossi looked at him but decided to ignore him. He looked at Reid. "What kind of person could do such a thing?"

"Any scientist with the right equipment," Reid stated plainly.

"What kind of equipment?" Prentiss asked.

Garcia and Kevin took their cue and headed to the lair. Garcia grabbed Reid on the way.

Rossi opened a file box and pulled out several maps. "There are several routes marked on this one and they correspond with a few of the murder sights here in Virginia," he showed everyone. They all grabbed a map to check them out.

"This one shows the Florida sight," JJ said. They then found maps that showed all of the other sights.

"Here's another map of Virginia," Prentiss said grabbing another one. "Prince William County," she added. They all stopped what they were they were doing. They were in Prince William County. Prentiss spread it out on the table and they all saw several buildings that were marked.

"Wow, twelve?" JJ asked a little defeated. "It will take forever to search all of them."

"And that's if they are even connected to Hotch and Jack. We don't even know if they are in the area." Blake pointed out.

"We could get surveillance on them through local PDs and just check them out first," Morgan suggested. Rossi nodded his agreement.

"How did Cypress' house look?" Prentiss asked. They looked at her questioningly. "Did it look like he had been home? If he's been returning daily, then Hotch and Jack have to be close enough for him to travel. If not he might have taken them somewhere. . ." She couldn't put a voice to the rest of her thought.

"Yes, he had been there. His mail was on the table," JJ pointed out.

"I honestly think that if he wanted to kill them, he would have done it in the car like the others," Rossi told them in a definite tone. _I can't tell them what I think he's doing with them, though._

"Alright, I'll go get the ball rolling for the surveillance," JJ told them taking the marked map and heading to her desk.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 9**

Hotch screamed and jerked his previously unmovable arm as the blade made its way almost to his shoulder. His screams grew louder as he was all of a sudden hanging very lopsidedly. "Well look what you've done to yourself," The Reaper said with disgust. Hotch couldn't stop screaming because the pain in his shoulder was worse than any other pain he had felt so far. "Only an idiot would wrench his arm like that while suspended from his wrists." The Reaper had to yell to be heard over Hotch and the fact that Jack was screaming for his father, too. "Your stupid stunt dislocated your shoulder. Shut up!" He demanded. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Hotch couldn't hear him as he was lost in the pain. The Reaper was losing control of the situation, and he didn't like it. He walked to where the cable holding Hotch in the air was secured. He jerked the pin out of the holder and let Hotch unceremoniously drop to the ground.

Hotch stopped screaming only because the air was slammed out of his lungs from hitting the floor so hard. His shoulder pain lessened and as he was trying to start breathing again, he realized that Jack was hyperventilating from crying so bad. Hotch wanted to scream out to him, but it was almost like his lungs had given up on him. Suddenly the Reaper kicked him forcibly in the back. Surprisingly, the act allowed Hotch to inhale sharply.

"You worthless piece of shit!" The Reaper kicked Hotch again, his booted foot connected with Hotch's wounded arm making him shriek another time. Jack was still screaming and crying, and the Reaper turned to him. "Shut up!" He yelled as he started toward the little Hotchner.

**XXXXX**

Garcia and Kevin, with Reid's help, had cross checked all the available buildings with names of scientists and places with the equipment needed to freeze dry blood. That allowed them to narrow down the possible buildings to just three. They set out in groups to oversee the clearing of the buildings. Morgan and Blake went to the abandoned lab outside Dale City, Reid and JJ went to an office building near Quantico, and Rossi and Prentiss went the furthest away to warehouse near Manassas. They all had SWAT teams with them, and they entered the buildings as soon as they reached them. They knew time was of the essence.

JJ and Reid were the first ones to get to their target. They had a SWAT team and several police officers because Garcia said the place was in use by several companies. They really didn't think Hotch and Jack were being held there, but they had to check. It took them about an hour to clear the building, but in the end they were right. Nothing of their boss or his son was found, so they headed back to the BAU.

Morgan and Blake prepared to breach the lab with the SWAT team. Earlier surveillance had noted one man going into the building about an hour before. The description of the man was that it might have been Cypress, but the officer wasn't completely sure. One of the SWAT team officers busted the door open, and they all flooded into the building. As they started to clear each of the rooms, they heard an officer yell that the man had been caught. No one else was found in the building, and the man was not Cypress. In a thorough search of the lab; however, evidence gathered led them to believe that the man in custody was the man who had provided the dried blood because they had found the rest of it. The man couldn't provide them with anything new as he said that Cypress had paid for what he wanted and that had been over six weeks ago. Without finding anything else, they took the man back to the BAU.

Rossi and Prentiss readied themselves behind the SWAT team. Infrared surveillance had captured images of four people on the third floor of the abandoned building. The group quietly made their way up to the targeted floor and broke through the doors with weapons ready. Instantly Prentiss knew they were in the wrong place as four junkies tried desperately to scatter as they were invaded. "Damn it!" Prentiss yelled.

As the police rounded up the junkies, Rossi looked around the open floor. Other police officers were busy searching the rest of the building. They knew there weren't any other living people in the building, but Rossi didn't want to tell Emily that they had to search for bodies just in case. He used a flashlight to search the dim room and was about to go back to Emily when something caught his eye. He moved closer to the wall and his breath caught in his throat. "Emily!"

Emily heard the tone of his voice and went running over to him. "Son of a bitch!" She yelled when she saw what was illuminated by Rossi's light. There scrawled on the wall was a five foot high 'Eye of Providence' and under it was written the words: 'You're getting warmer'. "Wow. This guy is definitely fucking with us."

"Yep," is all Rossi said as he took out his phone to let the others know what was found.

**XXXXX**

"No!" Hotch yelled and tried to get up. Hotch couldn't use his right arm at all and his left leg screamed with any movement, but he forced himself to try.

The Reaper noticed Hotch struggling to get up and laughed, but he didn't stop his advancement on the hysterical Jack. He kept Hotch in his peripheral view. He wasn't planning on torturing the kid yet, but the thought of seeing Hotch's reaction and emotional pain was exciting him. _Emotional pain causes so much more suffering_, he thought with an evil smile.

As Hotch tried not to pass out from the pain he noticed the chain around his right ankle had come undone. Forcing himself to stand was a lot harder than he thought it would be especially since his good arm was still handcuffed to his bad arm. Every movement his good arm made was met with extreme pain as his bad arm tried to reject any movement at all. The blackness was hovering, causing him tunnel vision. Hotch, however, finally made it to a standing, albeit wobbly, position as the Reaper made it to Jack's cage. The Reaper told Jack to shut up again as he unlocked the door. "Jack!" Hotch cried taking a few painful, shuffling steps. Blood was running down his leg and his foot was bleeding profusely and together it was making for some very slippery steps.

The Reaper looked over his shoulder and smiled at Hotch, knowing the wounded man could do nothing to protect the boy. "Shut UP!" he demanded as he grabbed Jack by the hair and yanked him out of the cage.

"Leave him alone!" Hotch cried as tears streamed down his face as he struggled to make his way to his son.

The Reaper turned around pulling Jack with him and putting Jack in between him and Hotch. He smiled at Hotch's feeble attempts.

"Don't! Please don't! God please!" Hotch begged as he still advanced on the man.

Hotch's begging excited the Reaper even more. He made sure Hotch was watching as he brought his hand up and across his body, preparing to strike Jack.

"Noooooo!" Hotch yelled as the Reaper struck Jack so hard that it spun him around and he went flying backward towards a steel pillar. Hotch summed up all the strength his broken body would give him and lurched forward.

As Jack fell back, his little head struck the pillar, and blood splattered everywhere. Hotch could see the life extinguish in his son's eyes. "Jaaaaccccckkkkkk!" Hotch screamed, his heart breaking completely as he slumped to the ground.

**XXXXX**

As soon as Morgan reported the name of the man they had in custody to Garcia, her and Kevin dug up everything they could find. In their extreme computing, they realized that Jason Reyer's father had been a close companion to Richard Cypress' father. They also found a warehouse leased to Jason's father that was only twenty-two miles away. The team decided to take a chance on it and readied themselves for another raid. "SWAT won't be available for about another two hours," JJ told them as they were putting on their kevlar vests. They all looked at each other.

"I, for one, don't think we can wait," Rossi confessed.

"There are six of us," Emily pointed out.

"I say we do it. They have to be running out of time," Morgan voiced what they were all thinking.

"Alright, I'll let Garcia know, and maybe she can find someone to back us up" JJ told them as she took off toward the lair.

**XXXXX**

The Reaper laughed maniacally. "See Aaron!" he pointed at Jack limp body. "I told you I would take your son away from you!" He gloated as he advanced on Hotch.

Pain turned to rage and rage turned to strength as Hotch gathered all he could and waited for the Reaper to get closer. Hotch knew he was no match for the mountain of a man, but he had nothing to lose anymore, nothing but his life, and he didn't value that worth living without Jack.

The Reaper decided he was done toying with Hotch, he had cause all of the emotional pain he could, and that took all of the fun out of it. All that was left was physical pain, and he knew exactly how to cause the most of that.

Hotch let the sobs racking his body help fuel his vengeance. As soon as the Reaper grabbed his hair, Hotch launched himself at the man. The Reaper stumbled back a few steps because he clearly wasn't expecting Hotch to be able to do what he had done. The Reaper steadied himself quickly, though, and drove his elbow into the base of Hotch's skull knocking him to the ground. Hotch let out a primal growl as he got himself back up. Somehow his body had grown immune to its pain. The Reaper readied his knife. "Wow Aaron! And here I thought you weren't going to be fun anymore," he taunted.

Hotch launched himself at the man again, but the Reaper was ready this time. He was surprised by the strength of the tortured man, though, as he brought the knife down and with all of the struggling, ended up implanting it into the inside of Hotch's left thigh. Hotch screamed but kept struggling against the Reaper. Jack's frail body came into view and Hotch let out an earth shattering scream and slammed his good shoulder into the Reaper's midsection driving the man back. Hotch pushed and pushed and pushed until he heard a sickening sound as they slammed into something solid. Hotch felt the Reaper's body go limp and he looked up. The fork of an old forklift was sticking out of the psychopath's chest.

A few moans escaped Hotch's mouth as he slid down the man to the floor. The pain started to reawaken in Hotch's body and he fought against the dark trying to engulf him. Hotch tried to grasp the knife that was still implanted in his thigh but he couldn't get his fingers to do his bidding. They had spent too much time strangled by the cuffs, but he was eventually able to yank the blade free with a scream. He looked toward Jack and the tears started flowing freely down his cheeks. Hotch started making his way toward his son. He could only manage a half crawl as every movement threatened to be his last. After what seemed like forever, Hotch was pulled up short by the chain still hooked to his left leg. He sat up and tried everything to escape the links that were keeping him from his son. "No!" he screamed and bawled. "Why?. . . Why God, why?" He slumped to the ground.

He turned his head toward Jack. "No!" he yelled at himself. He crawled across the floor and stretched out as far as he could, but the tips of his fingers were about a half an inch too short to reach his son. "Oh Jack. . . Jack I am so sorry buddy," he whispered. He could feel his body weakening. _He must have hit my femoral_, he thought with a little chuckle. He knew he was bleeding out, and he didn't care. "I'll be with you soon, buddy." He closed his eyes and remembered the last time that he held Jack in his arms. _Hotch was sitting on Jack's bed, and Jack was on his lap. Jack was laughing as Hotch tickled him and then he told Jack, 'You know I love you buddy, right?' 'Of course, daddy. You know I love you, right?' Jack asked back. 'More than you will ever know!' Hotch told him with a hug._ The memory slowly slipped away as the darkness consumed him.

**XXXXX**

Most of the team was jumping out before the SUVs were even completely stopped. Weapons drawn, they entered the massive building as a group. They quickly split up into pairs and started to search for their boss and his son. "Medical and back-up is on the way." Garcia told them in their ear pieces. Nobody acknowledged her as they were trying to be as quiet as possible. Rossi didn't like the feeling in his gut. _It's way too quiet for this to be the right place,_ he thought as they went their separate ways. Morgan and JJ took the wing to the right, Reid and Blake took the wing to the left, and Rossi and Prentiss continued down the corridor in the center. After what seemed like forever, Rossi caught sight of Hotch's leg. "Found 'em," he said into his comm link which halted everyone and sent them running in Rossi's direction.

"Cypress?" Morgan asked.

"No eyes yet," Rossi told them letting them know that he hadn't seen him. As Rossi and Prentiss made their way around the old conveyor belt that Rossi had seen Hotch's leg under, Rossi's breath caught in his throat. The sight before him broke his heart. A bloody Hotch lay stretched out on the floor. "Oh shit!" Prentiss said softly. Rossi noticed a chain running from Hotch's ankle to a steel pillar. As Rossi's eyes followed the chain back to Hotch's body, he finally saw what Hotch had been reaching for. Jack's body lay just inches away from his father's hand.

Rossi openly cried as he ran to his friend. "Oh God, no!" he screamed. As soon as he reached Aaron, the man he thought of as a son, he fell to the ground beside him.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 10**

Dave quickly searched Hotch for a pulse as Emily ran to Jack. "Medics to my location, now!" Rossi yelled into his comm link."

"On their way, sir." Garcia's voice answered him. "Sir?" It was only one word, but her tone asked a far different question.

"Not now, Baby Girl," Morgan answered for him through the comm link. "Rossi?" Morgan yelled out trying to find him.

"Here, hurry!" Rossi yelled out into the room. He looked down at his battered boss, "come on, Hotch!" Rossi was trying to get a reaction from his friend.

"Oh my God!" was all Morgan could say as he took in the horrible scene.

JJ cried out and instantly turned around and threw up.

Reid and Blake came running up last. They just stood and stared, shocked at the sight.

"Check Jack!" Rossi yelled at them and they all went to the boy. "Reid!" Reid stopped in his tracks. "Put pressure on that!" he yelled motioning to the gash in Hotch's thigh that was still oozing badly. Reid took off his sweater and held it onto the wound. The pressure made Hotch moan. "That's it, Hotch, stay with us!" Rossi said in a soothing voice, right as Hotch stopped breathing. "No Hotch! Come on damn it!" Rossi yelled and slapped his friend gently on the face. Hotch took another breath. "That's it, Hotch. Come on, come back to me," Rossi pleaded with him.

Morgan came up to them, not sure what to do. He had seen Richard Cypress, so they knew he wasn't going to be a threat to anyone anymore.

"Take those off," Rossi told Morgan gesturing to the handcuffs. As he retrieved his key and started to take off the handcuffs, Morgan finally allowed himself to take in Hotch's whole body. The sight made him sick to his stomach. Foyet had done some damage, but that was nothing compared to what he was seeing. He moved Hotch's left arm down beside his body and when he grabbed his right arm, he immediately noticed that something was definitely wrong with it, and not just the knife wound.

Rossi noticed his hesitation. "What?"

"It's like it's not attached," Morgan said as he held Hotch's arm. He tried to gently move it to Hotch's side, and Hotch let out a low moan, so he stopped. "Where's the damn medics, Garcia?"

"They should be coming around the corner any second Morgan." Garcia told him in a low voice.

"Oh Baby Girl, I am so so. . ." Morgan started to apologize.

"Don't Derek. I understand." Morgan could tell by her voice that she had been crying. "Let him know I'm sending him vibes of love."

"He's stopped breathing again," Reid said frantically.

"Hotch!" Morgan yelled.

"Come on Hotch," Rossi said shaking him. The searing pain from his dislocated shoulder made Hotch inhale again. "There you go. Come on, stay with us." Hotch's eyes started to flutter open. "Yeah Aaron, come on, you can do it."

Hotch's eyes wouldn't settle. He kept blinking and his eyes kept trying to roll back into his head. Morgan reached down and pressed on Reid's hands.

"What are you doi. . ." Reid started to ask.

A horse scream escaped Hotch, and his eyes snapped open. Rossi gave Morgan a small smile and looked back down to Hotch. "Hey there," Rossi smiled at his friend.

Hotch tried to focus. He couldn't understand why the pain was back. He couldn't make sense of seeing Haley but hearing Rossi. He didn't want to make sense of it. He just wanted it all to go away, and his eyes slowly shut again.

"No, Hotch. Damn you stay with us!" Rossi demanded and picked his friend up to hold him against his chest in a hug.

The movement caused more pain to jerk Hotch awake. "Dave?" Hotch's voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm here Aaron," Rossi tried to reassure his friend.

"Let me die," Hotch told him. Morgan glanced at Reid. They had all heard it, and it made Reid cry.

Rossi looked at his friend's face. He could see the defeat in Hotch's eyes. "No Aaron, please, please don't give up now. Not after all you've lived through," Rossi pleaded.

"Let me go, Dave" Rossi could barely hear Hotch's voice.

"No Aaron. I can't. You mean too much to me." Rossi was crying, and his tears were falling onto Hotch's face.

"Please, Dave? Let me die." Hotch pleaded.

"Damn it Agent Hotchner! You will not quit on me!" Rossi yelled.

Two medics ran up to them, and two ran over to Jack. "Sir?" The medic looked at Rossi.

"Rossi, you've got to let them work on him. You've got to let him go." Morgan told him putting his hand on Rossi's shoulder. Rossi sighed and carefully lowered his friend to the ground as Reid instructed the medics on what he knew of Hotch's injuries. Rossi gave his friend a kiss on the forehead before he got up out of the way.

All three of the men stood there watching the medics do their job, and all three of them were silently praying and hoping that their boss, their friend, would make it.

Reid kept looking at his bloody hands. He shuddered a little. He had had blood on his hands before, but not Hotch's and not so much.

Morgan ran a hand over his bald head; he'd never seen anyone that badly injured who was still breathing. His mind flashed back to a wounded and bloody Emily, and how he fought for her to stay with him. That was bad, but seeing Hotch like this made him think that had been a walk in the park.

Rossi was silently crying. _If I hadn't messed up, if I hadn't of went against my gut, the Hotchner men would be at home doing fun father-son things instead of lying on the floor of this damn warehouse!_

Blake came up behind them. She felt strange, like an outsider, encroaching on the men. She was the newest member of the team and not as attached to Hotch as everyone else. She wasn't even there when everything had happened with Foyet; so she slowly backed away and turned her attention to the room around them. She approached Cypress' body and wondered how the horribly wounded Hotch could fight the massive man. A trail of blood by her feet caught her attention, and she followed it with her eyes. The trail led her eyes to Hotch. She shook her head, wondering how he even made it as far as he did.

A fireman used bolt cutters to release Hotch's leg from the chain that had kept him from his son. Once Hotch's leg was free, they quickly moved him to the ambulance gurney. "I'm riding with him," Rossi told them as he followed the medics.

"We'll get things started here and be there as soon as we can," Morgan told him. "And Rossi. . ." Morgan started. Rossi gave him a nod, telling him he understood what wasn't said.

XX

The long beep told Rossi that Hotch's heart had stopped beating. "He's flat lined," the medic said letting go of the bag of blood that he was trying to attach to an IV so they could start to replace the loss of blood in Hotch's body. He prepared the defibrillator and looked at Rossi. "Clear!" he yelled, and Rossi let go of Hotch's hand. He had been holding it to try to comfort his friend. Rossi's heart screamed and he jumped when Hotch's body jumped as the paddles jolted his heart into beating again. "He's back. ETA?" he questioned the driver.

"Seven minutes," the driver yelled back as Hotch's heart beat became erratic and faint.

"Make it five!" the other medic yelled as he slammed a needle into Hotch's chest. Rossi looked at the man questioningly. "Adrenalin," the medic said simply. Rossi noticed Hotch's heart beat start to get a little more regular and his blood pressure started to come up, which was great because it was almost nonexistent in the beginning. Hotch's eyes started to flutter. "There you go Agent Hotchner. Come on, wake up," the medic told him adding another bag of blood to his IV.

"Dave?" Hotch's voice low and raspy.

"Right here, Aaron," Rossi told him as he moved into Hotch's view.

"Let me die. . ." Hotch was too weak to fight. He just wanted the pain to go away. The Medic looked worriedly at Rossi.

"No, damn it, Hotch! You are not allowed to give up!"

"Please Dave. . . I'm so tired."

Rossi was crying again. "Hotch no. . . don't give up." Rossi begged him as he grabbed his hand again. "If you won't fight for yourself Aaron, fight for Jack!"

Hotch winced at his son's name and the image of Jack's head hitting the pillar seared his eyes. Hotch knew Rossi was lying. He knew his precious son was dead, but he couldn't blame Rossi for lying about it, he had done the same to victims before.

"If you won't fight for yourself, fight for me. You're like a son to me. I can't lose you, Aaron. . ." Hotch heard his friend start, but the darkness enveloped him again. "Hotch?" Rossi looked at the medic.

"He's just passed out," the medic told him. Rossi sat back down as the ambulance pulled up to the hospital. They quickly got Hotch inside and they disappeared with him around the corner. Rossi sent up a silent prayer for God to watch over and help his friend. Then Rossi walked up to the nurses' station to fill out the needed paperwork.

Emily and JJ walked up to Rossi, they had ridden in the ambulance with Jack. "Is he going to be alright?" Emily asked as she studied his face.

"I honestly don't know." Rossi's eyes watered, threatening to cry again. JJ pulled the older man into a hug. "I think he's given up," he told them as he hugged her back.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 11**

The whole team was sitting in a surgery waiting room. After they stabilized Hotch in the ER, they sent him into surgery. That had been five hours ago. Finally a doctor walked in. Rossi was standing first, but no one spoke allowing the doctor to start. "I assume you're all family?" He asked with a smile, but as he noticed the mood in the room, he decided to get on with it. "May I ask what happened to him?" While none of them could say for sure what happened in the warehouse, they told him that Hotch had been kidnapped and tortured for five days. They also told him what they believed happened to him by the evidence at the scene. The doctor nodded his understanding.

"Agent Hotchner was really touch and go to begin with. Once we repaired most of the bleeders and got some much needed blood into him, though, the surgery went fine." He paused to let that sink in. Everyone visibly relaxed, so he continued. "Other than a lot of nonlife-threatening damage to soft tissues, the worst of his injuries were his left foot and right shoulder. His foot required some rod and pins, but the repair went easily enough. His shoulder, on the other hand, was completely destroyed." He paused again. "You think he was suspended in the air?" he asked them to clarify. With a nod from Morgan, he went on. "His shoulder was dislocated, but during the trauma, every muscle, tendon, and ligament was tore away from the socket." JJ felt like she was going to throw up again. "We did a complete joint replacement, and with healing and physical therapy, he should regain full use." He noticed another visible relaxing in the group. "He is going to have a lot of healing to do, and barring any complications, I believe he will make a full recovery." Smiles and the letting out of breath told him they were relieved.

"I have more news, though." They all froze. By the looks he was getting, he quickly added, "good news." And they settled back down. "The vascular surgeon who was on call, and who aided in the surgery, is also one the area's best plastic surgeons. Agent Hotchner should have very minimal scarring, and with the amount of stitching that needed to be done, I thought you all would like to know that," he finished with a smile.

Rossi couldn't help himself, he broke down crying again. Emily went to him as the rest of the team thanked the doctor and joined Emily in giving Rossi a giant group hug.

– _The next morning_

The whole team had waited for Hotch to be put into a room so they could see him. They knew he would probably be out of it, but just being by him gave them comfort. They took turns waiting by his bed for him to wake up. They commented on how pale and lost he looked, and they passed the time telling stories about things they had done with their Unit Chief. After several hours of waiting, though, they were starting to get worried. Rossi asked the doctor about it when he saw him that afternoon.

"I'm actually not surprised he hasn't woken up yet. With the severe dehydration and starvation, he just doesn't have the energy yet." The doctor reassured them. "We are giving him plenty of fluids, and if he isn't awake by this evening, we will put in a feeding tube to help him regain some of the nutrients and calories he lost."

Emily didn't see any worry on the man, so they relaxed and decided what to do for the evening. Rossi spoke up first. "You all go home. Get the sleep I know you all desperately need. I'll call you if he wakes up."

"You plan on staying?" Garcia asked as she adjusted the bright colored balloons she had bought and tied onto the restroom door knob.

"Yes. I am staying here until I know Hotch is alright. And I won't be sure about that until he can look me in the eyes and tell me he is," he told them in a tone that told them not to argue. Morgan had told them all about Hotch's pleas at the warehouse, and they all knew Rossi blamed himself wrongly, but they also knew he would not back down, so they all told Hotch goodbye. Emily, JJ, and Garcia said it with a kiss on Hotch's sunken cheek. They also gave Rossi a hug and told him they would bring him his 'go bag' in the morning.

Rossi sighed as he looked at his friend. He wasn't sure how he was going to make the whole thing up to Hotch, and he was trying to figure out a way to apologize as he slid a chair over to the side of the bed so he could be close when Hotch woke up.

**XXXXX**

Several days had passed and Hotch still hadn't woken up. Even the doctor was starting to get worried. He pulled Rossi out into the hall when Morgan and Garcia came up for their daily visit. Rossi wouldn't leave the room unattended. "I'm not sure what to say about this. It is like he just doesn't want to wake up. His injuries are healing nicely. His body is almost back to normal as far as the dehydration and starvation goes. I even lowered his pain medication in case it was just too strong for him. I just don't get it."

Rossi understood, though, and it scared the hell out of him. "Could his body just be taking time to heal? He went through hell in that building." He couldn't voice what he truly thought was keeping Hotch away.

The doctor considered that for a moment. "The subconscious mind is a strange thing. I want to run some tests." With the look Rossi gave him, he quickly added. "I just want to make sure we haven't missed anything. Besides, that way we can get a look at his brain waves and just make sure everything is working as it should be." Rossi nodded his agreement. He wanted answers, too.

XXX

By the next day, all tests were run and Emily and Reid waited with Rossi to find out the results. They all stood up when Hotch's doctor entered the room. "Well, according to the tests there is nothing we missed, and all of his injuries are healing. We did, however, notice a few things on one of his brain scans." Rossi held his breath. "We ran a brain wave scan and everything is fine as far as there were no injuries to his brain," he started.

"But," Rossi asked knowing there was one coming.

"But, he isn't resting well." Rossi and Emily both exchanged worried looks.

"It's like he's stuck in a dream?" Reid asked. Apparently knowing what the doctor was talking about.

"Yes. Exactly like that. He goes through moments of rest – sleep, but then all of a sudden his brain waves are all over the place like he's dreaming." _In a nightmare probably_, Rossi thought. "So I think I am going to up the pain meds again." Emily bit one of her fingernails. "And we'll see where we are tomorrow."

Reid thanked the doctor and looked between the two worried faces of his teammates. "This happens a lot with people who have been traumatized," Reid told them reassuringly.

XXX

The next day when the nurse came in to check Hotch's bandages, she sent Rossi out of the room and told him to go get some air. She noticed that Hotch moaned a few times while she was tending his wounds. When she was done, she immediately went to find Rossi. That was the first time Hotch had made any noise.

Hotch slowly opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. He took a deep breath as he realized he was in a hospital. He then focused on his body. He hurt all over, but assumed he was on painkillers since nothing hurt more than a strong throb. He noticed his right arm was in a sling and wrapped snugly around his body. He tried to move his right shoulder and the dull throb turned into a sharp pain as his breath caught in his chest. He slowly let his shoulder relax and the pain edged away. Then he noticed his foot in a strange cast type thing. He tried to wiggle his toes, prepared for the pain, but was surprised that it didn't hurt as bad as he expected. He was surprised to see his toes were a normal color, he would have sworn that he had gotten frostbite in the cold building. The memory of the Reaper slamming his knife into his foot came into his mind. That image open the flood gate on all of the other memories than he encountered at the hand of the psychopath to come flooding in on him.

Machines started beeping and alarms started going off as Hotch started to relive the torture. A nurse went running into his room followed by Rossi. "Agent Hotchner?" the nurse tried to get his attention as she silenced the alarms. Hotch's blood pressure and heart beat were twice what they were when she left. Hotch could hear the woman's voice, but seeing his son's head hit the pillar made the darkness threaten to overcome him.

"Aaron? Aaron it's OK. You're alright." Rossi tried telling his friend as he grabbed his hand. Hotch returned the grip, but his body started trashing as he desperately tried to fight his way out of the nightmare of memories. "Aaron! Aaron, calm down. . ." Rossi pressed his free hand down on Aaron's good shoulder. "Aaron, you're safe," he told him. "Come on. I know you want to wake up." Hotch started to calm down and his eyes started fluttering. "That's it. . . come on. You're safe now," Rossi tried to reassure his friend.

Finally Hotch settled down and tried to focus on Rossi. "Dave?" he asked weakly.

Rossi let go of Hotch's shoulder but kept ahold of his hand. "I'm here." The nurse checked a few things and left the two men alone to go tell the doctor that Hotch was finally awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Dave. . ." Hotch started as he pulled his hand away from Rossi. Rossi's heart sank. _He does blame me._

"Yeah Aaron?"

"I asked you to let me die," Hotch stated flatly. "Why couldn't you just let me go?"

"Aaron. . . I. . ." Rossi stammered. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Dave, I begged you."

"Aaron, you were weak, wounded, beaten. I didn't think you were in your right mind. I. . ."

"I begged you! Damn it Dave!" Hotch was getting upset and his breathing quickened and his blood pressure monitor started beeping again.

"Aaron you need to calm down," Rossi started to cry.

Hotch leaned back, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Why Dave? Why couldn't you let me go?" he asked looking at Dave again.

Rossi looked Hotch in the eyes. He searched them, wondering why his friend had given up. "Aaron, how could you think I could even allow that? How could you even ask me?"

Hotch closed his eyes and turned away. "I asked you because I thought you cared about me."

"I couldn't let you die because I _do_ care about you!" Rossi stated. "You know I think of you like a son, Aaron," he continued. "What happened in that building?" Rossi thought that if he could get Hotch talking, then maybe he could get to the bottom of what was going on.

Hotch took a deep breath and looked back at Rossi. "How long was I there?" He asked first.

Rossi swallowed hard. "Five full days plus the night you went missing."

"I didn't realize it was so long. Apparently, I lost some time. . ." Hotch started and then started fidgeting with some of the cords around him.

"Do you remember being taken?" Morgan asked. Hotch hadn't even noticed him coming in. He looked to the door and also saw Reid. He noticed they both wore the same worried look on their faces.

"It was a young woman. She used a tazer. I blacked out and woke up hanging in that building," Hotch explained.

"We found her, she was hired by Richard Cypress, the unsub. . ." Morgan started.

"The Reaper," Hotch corrected him. Everyone exchanged concerned glances, but Rossi didn't challenge him about it identity of the unsub, not with the state Hotch was in.

"She was duped into believing she was tazing the man's brother for a prank war," Reid told him.

"We checked her out and she's clean," Morgan added.

"He just left me hanging there for a day. . . I'm not sure. . ." Hotch ran his good hand down his face and finally noticed how ripped up and bruised his wrist was. "Then he spent a couple days retracing Foyet's handiwork," he continued. Morgan winced at the memory of seeing Hotch's wounded body lying on the floor of the warehouse. "He kept making me drink, so I wouldn't be too dehydrated. He didn't want me too weak to be tortured," he told them, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sadistic bastard!" Rossi injected.

Hotch gave him a smirk and nodded his agreement. "Then he brought. . ." Hotch tried to continue, but broke down in tears. Rossi looked at Morgan and Reid. They all knew who Hotch was referring to. "He put him in a cage. . . and then. . ."

"Hotch you don't have to do this right now," Morgan told him softly.

Hotch shook his head and wiped his eyes. After a couple of deep breaths to get himself under control, he went on. "Then he made Jack watch as he tortured me more," he told them trying to stop the tears welling up in his eyes from cascading down his cheeks again. "That's when he went for my leg," he gestured to his wounded leg. "I tried to hold it in. I tried to get Jack to close his eyes. . . I tried not to scream, but. . ."

"Aaron, it's OK. We know you did everything. . ." Rossi started.

"No!" Hotch yelled. "I couldn't control myself. I kept screaming, and that made Jack cry more. Then he moved to my arm," he took a deep breath to calm himself down because the beeping alarm started to go off again. "At first, I didn't feel it. I was too numb."

"The lack of circulation causes. . ." Reid started, but stopped when Morgan held his hand up.

"But then, I guess, he went deep enough, and then I jerked away. . ." he closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "I guess I must have blacked out or something because the next thing I remember is being on the ground. . The Reaper was screaming at me. . . I don't know what he was saying." Hotch shut his eyes and continued. "He kicked me a couple of times. Then he went for Jack." Hotch swallowed hard and went on, "I was trying to get to him, but I couldn't move fast enough. He grabbed Jack out of the cage, made sure I was watching. . ." Tears started streaming down his face again, and Hotch didn't even wipe them away. Rossi and Reid were crying with him, even Morgan had tears in his eyes. "Then he hit Jack. He hit him so hard that. . ." a few sobs escaped his lips. "That he. ."

"Hotch don't. . ." Morgan started but Rossi stopped him with a look. Rossi knew Hotch needed to get this out.

Hotch stopped sobbing, but he didn't look at the men of his team. In a flat tone, he continued, "he hit him so hard that it sent him flying into one of the pillars. . . I tried to get to him. . ."

"How did you manage to kill Cypress?" Reid asked as he wiped tears from his face.

Hotch looked at the young man, "I don't know. . ." He squinted his eyes and tilted his head, trying to remember. "I think I ran into him. . . I think he stabbed me again. . . I think. . . "

"That's what almost killed you," Rossi told him sympathetically. Hotch nodded his understanding.

Hotch's doctor walked in and the discussion was halted. "If you gentlemen will excuse us, I need to check Agent Hotchner over since he has finally decided to wake up. And visiting hours are over," the doctor started but by the looks on their faces, he quickly added, "one of you may come back when I'm done."

Morgan and Reid booth looked to Rossi and with the look he gave them, they knew Rossi would be the one staying again. "Ok, Hotch, we'll see you tomorrow," Morgan told him.

"Try to get some rest," Reid added and they walked out of the room with Rossi bringing up the rear. Once they were all out in the hall and the door to Hotch's room was shut, Reid expressed his thoughts. "I can't believe he survive all that."

"Well, Hotch has beat the odds before," Morgan pointed out.

"Yeah, but, I can't believe he took out Cypress with the shape he was in," Reid told them.

"Papa bears can perform greatly when their cubs are involved," Rossi said with a proud smile.

"Actually, male bears have nothing to do with the raising of the cubs. . ." Reid started.

"You know what he meant, Pretty Boy." Morgan said while rolling his eyes at the young genius.

"You know, there are actually hundreds of documented cases about the feats parents have accomplished when their children were involved." Reid added with a smile.

"And before you go into those, you two need to go home. You can come back tomorrow." Rossi said as he herded them down the hall.

"Are you staying all night again?" Morgan asked him. "You've been her for five days. Don't you want to go home and get some real sleep?"

"I'm not leaving until I k_now_ Hotch is going to be alright," _because this is all my fault_, he didn't add out loud.

"He's awake now. The doctor said that he should be fine," Morgan pointed out.

_You weren't here at the beginning of the conversation_, Rossi thought. "It's not just his physical wellbeing I'm worried about," Rossi said seriously. "Now go. I will call you when he's ready for visitors tomorrow." They left him to stand alone and wait for the doctor.

The doctor finally came out with a look of distress etched all over his face. "How is he, doc?" Rossi asked not sure if really wanted to know what was bothering the doctor so much.

"His wounds are healing well, and I am glad he is finally awake."

"But?" Rossi could tell there was one coming.

"But I am worried about his mental health. I know he went through hell, and he has every right to be down."

"But?" Rossi urged him on again.

"But, he seems really depressed. I mentioned taking out the feeding tube if he thought he could eat some real food tomorrow, and he said he wasn't sure if he wanted to eat." Rossi shook his head. "He just doesn't seem to care about getting out of here," the doctor finished.

"I have been worried about him," Rossi started and bit his lip.

"And there's a reason why?" It was the doctors turn to urge Rossi on.

"When we found him, he told me to let him die," Rossi admitted sadly.

"Does he have a problem with depression?" the doctor asked with concern.

"No. I have never seen him like this. I don't understand it."

"Well, I have seen deep depression in some patients, but they had suffered major injuries like paralysis or loss of a limb. You know, life changing injuries. Agent Hotchner hasn't suffered anything that won't heal completely, and I made sure he knew that."

"I know." Rossi ran a hand through his hair. "I will talk to him. I have to find out where this is coming from."

"Well, I just gave him another dose of pain meds. He'll probably sleep through the night. Why don't you go home and come back tomorrow?"

"No. I don't want to leave him alone until I get to the bottom of this," Rossi told him. The doctor nodded and wished him luck. Rossi sighed heavily and walked back into Hotch's room.

"Hey," Rossi said seeing that Hotch was still awake, but he could tell by his eyes that it wouldn't be long before he was sleep.

"Go home Dave," Hotch said drowsily.

"Nope." Rossi pulled a chair close to Hotch's bed. "I'm gonna stay right here until you're better," Rossi told him with a smile.

Hotch tried to give Rossi one of his famous stares. "Whatever. I don't have the energy to argue."

"You wouldn't win anyway." Rossi tried to joke with him, but Hotch just closed his eyes and laid his head back on his pillow. "That's right, you rest and we'll talk in the morning." Rossi settled into the chair for another night's vigil. _Damn it! My lack of action is not only responsible for the pain to his body, it's responsible for breaking his spirit._ Rossi didn't know how to fix his friend, but he knew he had to try.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 12**

Rossi woke up with a start. He looked around trying to figure out what woke him. The sun was just starting to come up so he could see clearly in the room. Hotch was tossing and turning as well as his injuries would allow. He was also mumbling something Rossi couldn't understand. Rossi knew he was having a nightmare and was just about to wake him up when Hotch yelled out, "Jack! No!" and woke himself up.

"Hotch! You're alright!" Rossi reassured him. Hotch laid back breathing heavily. "You OK?" Rossi asked looking at Hotch's heart monitor. His blood pressure started coming back down. Hotch sighed deeply and gave Rossi a 'whatever' look. That pissed Rossi off. He didn't like caring about someone who had stopped caring about himself. "Alright, out with it!" Rossi demanded.

Hotch looked at Rossi with disgust, "What?"

"What the hell happened in that damn building that made you want to give up on life?" Rossi stared at the wounded man, looking for any sign of fight in his eyes. When Rossi saw none, he thought his own life would end.

Hotch stared back at Rossi, then decided he was too tired to fight, so he looked down at his lap.

A tear fell down Rossi's cheek. "Look, Aaron, I know this is all my fault. If I could turn back time and change it, I would. I would give anything for this to not have happened. If I would have just followed my instincts about that locket. . ." Rossi stopped as Hotch looked at him with question. Hotch didn't know about the locket yet. _Shit! Now I've done it. Let's pile some more on the broken man, why don't we?_ Rossi wanted to kick himself.

"What about the locket?" Hotch asked darkly.

Rossi bit his lip. There was no going back now, so he decided to tell the truth. "I showed Jessica the locket, and she said that it did belong to Haley. That their mother was going to give it to Haley on her next birthday, so she put it on her at the viewing." Hotch started to breath heavily, knowing all of the implications of what Rossi was telling him. "God, Aaron I am so sorry. I should have made you realize the danger. I should have got Jack into protective custody as soon as you went missing. I should have seen what was going to happen. I should have stopped you from being the bait that night. I failed you Aaron, and I know you hate me for it, but please, please don't act like you don't want to live. I don't think I can handle. . ."

"You can't handle? You?" Hotch shook his head. He couldn't face Rossi anymore, and he turned to face the wall. "I don't blame you Dave. This is all my fault. And I really don't care if I live anymore. Can't you understand that?"

Rossi stared at him. He knew Hotch wanted to shut down, but he couldn't let him. "Why?" he asked in a small voice.

"You know, Dave, he could have done anything to me. I knew you all would find me. I just had to hold on to give you guys time."

Rossi tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat. "I am so sorry it took us so long. . ." Rossi started but stopped when Hotch turned back to look at him.

"I know you all did your best. When I finally wasn't suspended in the air anymore, I knew I had to get to Jack. . ." he licked his lips. "But I couldn't get to him before the Reaper hit him, and he knew it. . . He made sure I was watching. . ."

"With as wounded as you were, how could you have expected to. . ." Rossi started.

"He was my son! I was supposed to protect him!" Hotch was crying openly.

"Aaron. . ."

"The only reason I was able to take him on is because of the rage I felt. . ."

"And there's nothing wrong with that. Nobody is blaming or questioning you about killing him." Hotch shook his head, but Rossi continued. "He was a sorry so of a bitch who didn't deserve to live!"

"When it was over, I tried to get to Jack, but I couldn't reach him."

"I saw the chain," Rossi told him sadly.

"I couldn't reach him. . . I. . ."

"Aaron just stop. It wasn't your fault. . ."

"But. . . I knew I was bleeding out. I could feel I was dying and all I wanted to was join my son." Hotch started crying a little harder.

Rossi's eyes got wide. "Wait. . .what?" _How could I have not realized? He couldn't have known. That's the first thing I should have told him when he woke up!_

"I couldn't even hold my son's body!" anger edged his voice.

"Oh God, Aaron! No wonder you wanted to give up." Hotch looked at him with confusion. "Aaron, Jack is not dead!"

Hotch wanted to believe him, but the image of Jack hitting the pillar flooded his view. "You don't have to lie to me, Dave." Hotch said as he turned back toward the wall.

"Aaron!" Rossi got even closer. "Aaron, look at me!" Rossi demanded. Hotch finally turned back to him to look him in the eyes. Rossi placed his hands on Hotch's cheeks. "Jack _is_ alive!"

Hotch searched Rossi's face. _Could he be telling the truth?_ Hotch wondered as Rossi took his hands away.

"I told you in the ambulance that you had to fight for Jack."

"I thought you were lying, just to get me to fight," Hotch confessed.

"No! God no. I could never lie about something like that." Hotch could see the hurt in Rossi's eyes. "He was even here," Rossi told him. "When he was released, Jessica brought him in to see you. You were out of it, I didn't even think of you not knowing. Aaron, I am so sorry for not telling you right away. I just didn't think."

"He's alive? He's alright? But I saw him hit the pillar. . ."

"He suffered a severe concussion and a deep laceration that required stitches, but after a day of observance, they released him."

"But he's OK?" Hotch was almost giddy.

"Aaron, your son is fine!" Rossi said with a big smile.

Hotch actually had a smile on his face, but it was suddenly gone as concern filled the man. "He probably hates me." Hotch decided darkly.

"What?" Rossi couldn't follow the roller coaster of Hotch's thoughts.

"That ordeal will probably haunt him for the rest of his life. Seeing me being tortured, knowing I couldn't protect him, he probably won't even be able to look me in the eyes again."

Rossi understood now, and he smiled. "Hotch, Jack is _fine_."

"How could he be fine after that?"

"With the concussion, he doesn't remember anything."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. The last thing he remembers is being at school."

"Then . . . How?. . . What about . . ." Hotch was so excited that he didn't know where to begin.

"Jessica and JJ told him that you two were in a car accident and that's how you both got hurt, and his injury to his head made him forget it." Rossi explained as he took out his phone. "In fact, he spent the night at JJ's last night to play with Henry. I'll call and have her bring him up if you're up to it."

The smile on Hotch's face told Rossi he was. Hotch's mind raced on everything that had happened, on how he thought Jack was dead, on how Jack's alive and not seriously hurt, he didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

Rossi brought him out of his thoughts, "they are actually getting ready to eat breakfast. JJ said she could bring him up in about an hour."

Hotch pressed the 'call nurse' button. Rossi looked at him questioningly. The nurse came in almost instantly. And before she could ask him what he needed, he told her, "Could you get my doctor, please?" She nodded and left. Rossi was still staring at him. "What? I want to get rid of as many as these as possible," he said gesturing to all of the wires and cords connected to him. He smiled at Rossi.

Rossi couldn't help but to smile back, This was the Aaron Hotchner he knew and loved. "So no more thoughts or talk about not wanting to live?" Rossi thought he knew the answer, but he had to ask.

"Dave, surly you understand. I thought my son was dead. I thought that son of a bitch killed him, and I thought that it was all my fault." Hotch tried to swallow the lump in his throat as his eyes welled up with tears. "I mean. . . I lost Haley and I kept going for Jack's sake. The thought of losing him. . . I just. . . I just couldn't cope."

"But you're OK now, right? Cause I don't think I could survive if I have to worry about losing you, Aaron." Rossi confessed as tears welled up in his own eyes.

"Oh, Dave. . ." Hotch hadn't even considered how his actions were effecting others. He thought he didn't have anything to live for. He knew that was selfish, but that didn't bother him until that moment. "Dave, I am sorry. I wasn't thinking about anyone else. I was just thinking about my own pain. . ."

"Aaron, it's fine. I probably would have acted the same way in your circumstance. I just need to know that's over, that you're alright," Rossi interrupted.

"Yes, Dave. I have no plans of taking Jack's father from him."

"Or my friend from me?" Rossi asked with a smile.

"Or your friend from you, as long as you stop blaming yourself for everything that's happened." Rossi's brow furrowed. "You aren't responsible for this anymore than I am. So if you blame yourself, then I am going to have to blame myself, too." _For being in a comma for five days, he sure is perceptive_, Rossi thought sarcastically. "How about we just be happy with the way things turned out?"

"Agreed," Rossi said with a smile.

With that, Hotch's doctor walked in. "You wanted to see me Agent Hotchner?"

"Yes, please. I was wondering what we can do about getting rid of some of these?" he asked holding up the wires and tubes.

"Really? Why the change? Last night you really didn't seem to care." The doctor asked as he looked from Rossi to Hotch, noticing both of their smiles.

"My son will be here soon, and I prefer for him to not to see me like this if I can help it." Hotch explained.

"But he has seen you already. . . "

"I wasn't aware. . ."

"He's had a change in heart," Rossi explained.

"Well, OK." He said clapping his hands. "That's what I like to hear. If you'll excuse us Agent Rossi."

"Of course. I'll go get some coffee," Rossi said preparing to leave.

"And some hot food," the doctor suggested. "You haven't left this floor since Agent Hotchner arrived in his room."

The surprise was oblivious on Hotch's face. "Dave?"

"I'm fine. We'll talk later," Rossi told him and left as a nurse came in to assist the doctor.

"You have a really good friend there," she told Hotch.

"Yeah, but I sometimes forget that." Hotch told her with a shameful look.

XXX

"Daddy!" Jack yelled running into Hotch's room and right up to his bed. "I'm so glad you're awake!"

"Hey Buddy!" Hotch said as JJ ran in to help Jack up onto Hotch's bed.

"Remember Jack, you have to be careful with Daddy for a while." JJ told the excited boy.

"He's fine," Hotch assured her as Jack snuggled into a hug with Hotch's good arm. Hotch kissed Jack on the head and then looked at JJ. "Thank you for bringing him up."

"Of course. I'm just glad you're awake and in a good mood." JJ told him squeezing his good shoulder.

"Look Daddy, me and Henry made you a card," Jack told him while pulling a folded and crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Wow. Thanks Buddy," Hotch told him as he looked at the handmade card. "You and Henry made this?"

"Yeah, I did the letters and Henry did the coloring," Jack explained with a smile then looked at JJ. "Aunt JJ helped, too."

Hotch smiled at his son and JJ. He shifted Jack around so he could look him in the eyes. "Are you OK, Jack" Hotch asked seriously.

"Yeah Daddy. . ." Jack started as Hotch looked him up and down. He noticed a faint bruise on his cheek. "I got stitches like you, Daddy." Jack told him holding his head down so Hotch could see them.

"Oh yeah?" Hotch inspected the nicely healing wound. "Does it hurt?"

"Nah, but it itches!" Jack said with disgust. "But Aunt Jess and Aunt JJ told me I couldn't scratch it." He told his father with a pretend mean look at JJ.

"Yeah, the doctor told me the same thing." Hotch told him with a smile. "So you're really OK?" Hotch asked again while trying to blink away the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Yeah, Daddy! Are you OK?" Jack asked sincerely, noticing his father's eyes.

"I am now." Hotch told him swallowing him in the biggest hug he could manage with one arm. He finally released his son when the weight of him was hurting some of his wounds.

"Alright, Jack. I think Daddy needs some room," JJ told him taking him off Hotch's bed.

"We're going to the park later." Jack said with a smile.

"Cool."

"When do you get to come home?" Jack asked.

"The doctor said a couple of days if I be good," Hotch told him.

"Then you better be good," Jack told him seriously.

"Yes sir," Hotch told him just as seriously, but JJ could see that Hotch was in pain.

"Well, for Daddy to get better, he needs to rest. How about we go get Henry and Uncle Will and go to that park," JJ suggested. Jack looked to his dad for approval, and JJ quickly added, "We can come back and see Daddy after dinner."

"Yeah, you go ahead and have fun. I'll see you later," Hotch told him.

"OK. I love you Daddy," Jack told him.

Hotch smiled and said, "I love you too, Buddy. Tell Henry I said 'thank you' for the card."

"I will," Jack told him as he and JJ headed towards the door.

"And JJ," JJ turned around. "Thank you. . . for everything."

JJ smiled. "No need to thank me, Hotch. We're all family." She said and led Jack out of the room.

Hotch couldn't stop the tears from falling down his cheeks, nor could he stop the smile from forming on his lips. _He's really OK;_ he thought and laid his head back to rest.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 13**

Hotch's doctor walked into the cafeteria and got himself a cup of coffee. While paying, he noticed Rossi, so he walked over to him. He was about to say something when he realized that Rossi was asleep. He was leaning back in an overstuffed chair breathing softly. The doctor smiled and quietly turned away. Before leaving the room he stopped to talk to a bus boy. "The guy over there," the doctor gestured toward Rossi.

"The sleeper?" the bus boy asked.

"Yeah, him," the doctor said with a smile. "Let him sleep as long as he wants."

"No problem."

**XXXXX**

Emily's smile couldn't get any bigger after she had talked to JJ. JJ had called to tell her about Hotch's visit with Jack. After hearing from Morgan and Reid the night before, they were all glad to hear that Hotch was finally awake, but they were all at a loss as to why their leader was acting the way he was. JJ had also told her about Rossi's calls, the one asking her to bring Jack up and the one he made when not in Hotch's room where he told her about his and Hotch's early morning talk. Emily could have kicked herself for not realizing that Hotch would have thought his son was dead. He almost died thinking it, and when nobody thought to tell him otherwise as soon as he was awake, of course he thought Jack was dead. _How could we have been so stupid, so insensitive? Well, at least I wasn't the one there_, she thought gratefully. She wasn't sure if she would have thought about it, but she could still give Morgan shit for not thinking about it.

Since he was awake, and doing much better, they all planned on visiting him as a group that evening. _Hell, he probably doesn't even know I'm here_, she thought with a smile. She knew Hotch considered her a friend, and maybe seeing her would help his mood even more. While they all knew Hotch wouldn't be immediately all better, that he would require a lot of help to get over his ordeal both physically and mentally, they had all planned on being that 'help', whether he wanted it or not. Yes, knowing his son was alive probably put a stop to his wanting to be dead, but he would still need to deal with everything that had happened. Emily knew her old boss was extremely private, and he hated to show any weakness, so she was preparing herself to stand up to him. She figured she was the best person to do that because he was not her boss any more, and he couldn't use that to try to make her leave him alone.

Emily didn't have a home of her own in Virginia anymore, so she had been staying with Garcia since she got there. When the team had been talking about taking turns going to Hotch's home to help him, she had volunteered to stay with him and Jack. It made perfect sense; she didn't have to worry about family like JJ, she didn't have to worry about work like all of them, and she was at liberty to take as much time off as she wanted. _Besides, I love spending time with Jack_, she thought as she packed her tings back up and prepared to go to Hotch's. She wanted to be firmly in place before Hotch was released from the hospital so he couldn't tell her 'no'. She had even talked to Jessica and got her approval because she didn't want to step on the woman's toes. Jessica thought it was a great idea, and she had admitted to Emily that she was worried about Jack being home with the shape Aaron was in. Jessica had considered keeping Jack while Aaron healed, but she was worried about that not being good for either father or son. After getting the team's and Jessica's approval, she had to ask Jack. She could care less what Hotch was going to think, he would just have to deal with it, but she didn't want to upset or hurt Jack. Besides, if she got Jack's approval, he could help wear his father down if Hotch tried to fight her too much. She knew Jack liked her, hell, he loved his whole extended family, but moving in with him was something different. To her surprise, though, Jack not only liked the idea, he swallowed her in a hug as he told her he loved the idea. So with everyone's approval, she took the spare key Rossi gave her and went over to the place she would be calling home for a little while.

After a quick look in the kitchen, she knew she would have to go shopping as she threw away the fruit that had gone bad while Hotch was away. She had put her stuff away in the guest room because she didn't want Hotch to be able to just pick up her bags and throw her out. She was going to try to make it impossible for Hotch to get rid of her easily. _Besides, with the shape he is in, he can't physically throw me out_, she thought with a smile. When she noticed the time, she got herself ready to go to the hospital.

XXX

Rossi woke up when he heard a baby crying. For a second he didn't remember where he was. With a mental kick for falling asleep and not being with Hotch, he headed back to Hotch's room. He took his phone out and realized he had missed several calls and texts. Apparently everyone knew about Hotch and they were planning on coming up at five. He looked at his watch and mentally kicked himself again when he realized he had slept for almost six hours. With a smile, though, he had to admit he felt rested for the first time since the whole thing started. He paused and listened at Hotch's door, not hearing anything, he opened the door quietly.

Hotch was sleeping, but he wasn't resting as he trashed around moaning. Rossi quickly went to him and laid his hand on Hotch's chest. "You're safe Aaron," he told him in a soothing voice. Hotch settled a little, but didn't wake up. Rossi removed his hand from Hotch's chest and grabbed Hotch's hand instead. As Rossi sat down, Hotch gripped Rossi's hand forcibly. As Rossi winced at the pain and stood up, Hotch screamed out. Rossi shook Hotch's good shoulder with his free hand. "Hotch! Hotch wake up!" Rossi shook him harder. Hotch finally came awake with a start as he threw his good arm up in a defensive manner, almost pulling Rossi's arm out of its socket. "Hotch!" Rossi screamed as he almost fell on the wounded man.

"Oh, shit Dave, I'm sorry," Hotch told him, thoroughly embarrassed as he let go of Rossi's hand.

"I'm fine." Rossi said rubbing his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Hotch took a deep breath. "Yeah, just a dream."

"More like a nightmare," Rossi told him with raised brows. Hotch tried to blow it off. "Hotch even if I wasn't a profiler, and a damn good one I might add, I would know that was a nightmare," he told him with a smile.

Hotch sighed. "Yes, a nightmare. Every time I close my eyes I see that bastard and his knife."

Rossi nodded. He knew it would take time for Hotch to be able to get past his torture, but he would help; they all would. "You want to talk about it?"

Hotch looked tired and a little lost. He faced his ordeal with Foyet without a lot of discussion, so he was hoping that had could do the same again. He had to admit, though, that what Foyet did to him was nothing compared to what the real Reaper had done to him. Maybe talking wouldn't be too bad. "Tell me about the case. How did you find me?"

_Not what I had in mind, Aaron,_ Rossi thought, knowing that it was going to be like pulling teeth to get him to talk about what he needed to. He took a deep breath, realizing that he was going to be telling Hotch about Haley first. "All we found at the scene by the Taurus was your phone and a few drops of blood." Rossi could tell Hotch was trying to remember if he had been wounded in the capture. "Your phone revealed a picture of you." Hotch winced as he remembered what he had seen in the mirror. "You know about what was drawn?" Hotch nodded. "It was drawn with blood," Rossi started.

"Not mine," Hotch told him flatly.

"We found that out, but we were scared it was, so we ran tests."

"Did it belong to the last victim?" Hotch asked, not liking the idea of somebody else's blood on him.

"No."

"But you know whose." Hotch didn't like the look on Rossi's face.

Rossi inhaled slowly through his nose. He didn't want to tell Hotch, but he knew Hotch would eventually find out, even if the whole team promised to keep it a secret. Hotch always found out.

"Dave?" Hotch knew something was very wrong. "Just tell me."

"It was Haley's."

"What?" Hotch asked frantically. "My God! How the hell?" Hotch was flabbergasted.

"We had no idea at the time. Aaron, I am so sorry." Rossi couldn't even begin to imagine how Hotch must feel.

"And that led you to believe that he wasn't just a copycat," it wasn't a question.

"Yes, and when we realized we weren't going to find you immediately, I went to talk to Jessica." Hotch gave him a frantic look. "No. I didn't tell her. Telling you is one thing. Telling Jessica was something I just couldn't bring myself to do."

Hotch sighed. "Thank you."

"But, I did have to tell her about you missing, and that's when I found out the truth about the locket."

"I never even noticed it." Hotch told him, shaking his head.

"Well, no one could fault you for that. You weren't exactly at the top of your game understandably."

Hotch nodded. "And those clues led you to look at the funeral home."

"Yes, but not until after we found out about Jack. He used your badge and picked him up from school with a story about you sending him there. Hotch, I am so sorry I didn't protect Jack. I should have gone to him first."

"I thought we had agreed to stop blaming ourselves and each other?" Hotch asked and Rossi gave him a small smile. "I will have to have a talk with them about the proper procedures that should be taken when someone is picking up my son," Hotch said with anger.

"Don't worry. I've already had a long chat with them about it," Rossi told him with a sly smile.

"When I first realized that he had Jack, I prayed that Jessica hadn't been hurt."

"I can imagine, but I don't think she was ever a part of his plan. We were able to get a picture of him from the school's security camera, though. And then we matched him to the funeral home and we found out who he was." Hotch looked at him questioningly. Rossi knew what he was asking without words. "Richard Cypress."

"He told me how he was the Reaper the whole time. That he had taken Foyet as a protégé. And that he was after me for killing Foyet." Hotch remembered something. "Son of a bitch!"

"What?" Rossi asked frantically.

"He told me after Foyet died that he had to find another protégé. There's another one out there." Hotch told him.

Rossi could hear a faint hint of fear in his friend's voice. Hotch looked almost on the edge of panic. "Where's Jack right now?"

"With JJ still. Hotch, are you sure he was telling the truth? Could he have been making it up?"

"Why would he? He was sure I was going to die in that building. Why would he make up a story? He was an arrogant sadistic bastard! He wasn't lying." Hotch told him, worry very evident on his face and in his voice.

"Are you saying you think this new protégé is going to come after you and Jack?" Rossi asked just as worried. "Do you want me to call JJ?"

Hotch rubbed his sore shoulder. He wasn't sure if he was just imagining it or not, but suddenly all of his aches and pains were hurting a whole lot more.

"Aaron? Are you alright?" Rossi could see the pain in his eyes. Hotch's breathing quickened, and the monitor told Rossi that Hotch's heart rate and blood pressure were getting too fast and too high. "Aaron?" Rossi tried to get his attention. Hotch's eyes were darting around, and the monitors alarm started going off.

"I feel. . . I feel like I. . . I can't breathe" Hotch told him gasping.

Rossi got up quickly and pressed the nurse button. _Shit. He's having a panic attack_. "Aaron, just breathe. Try to take a deep breath," Rossi told him as he put his hand on Hotch's shoulder.

A nurse came in with a smile but lost it as soon she saw and heard what was happening. She went to Hotch quickly. "Agent Hotchner, you need to try and calm down." She silenced the monitor and flipped a switch on the wall. Hotch didn't even hear her; he was lost in his own mind. Another nurse ran in and Rossi quickly got out of the way. The second nurse injected something into Hotch's IV. Within moments, Hotch sank back into his pillow, his breathing slowed down drastically. Rossi was able to let out the breath he didn't even realize he was holding. The nurse checked Hotch's pulse with her fingers on his wrist. "Better?" She asked him. Hotch only nodded as he shut his eyes. Once they were satisfied, the nurses left.

"You OK?" Rossi asked him softly as he went back to his side.

Hotch ran his hand down his face. "I think so. I just got a horrible picture in my head of someone doing to Jack what that bastard had done to me," Hotch confessed with embarrassment.

"If there is someone out there, we will find him." Rossi said with confidence as someone knocked on Hotch's door. They both looked to see Hotch's doctor come in.

"How are you Agent Hotchner?" Apparently the nurses had informed him quickly.

Hotch looked at him. "I don't know what happened. I . . . I guess I just panicked." Hotch told him truthfully.

"That is perfectly normal after what happened," the doctor tried to reassure him. "How's your pain?"

"Not bad now," Hotch lied. The shot had calmed him down, but it didn't touch his pain.

"Really?" Rossi asked him. He could still see the pain in Hotch's eyes. He may be able to fool the doctor, but he couldn't fool the man that knew him too well. Hotch gave Rossi a look that told him to shut up.

The doctor looked at Rossi for a moment then looked back at Hotch. "Apparently your friend doesn't believe you any more than I do."

Hotch dropped his head. "I guess I could use something," he finally confessed.

The doctor nodded. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No." Hotch told him without looking at him.

"There's no reason to be ashamed of needing something for the pain, Agent. You've been through a lot." He told him, clearly concerned for his patient. "Besides, managing the pain helps with healing." He said and then left to go get the meds.

Rossi's phone went off, so he pulled it out of jacket pocket. It was a text from Emily telling him she was at Hotch's house and that everything was ready. Rossi smiled.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"The team wants to come up to visit." He lied. "You think you're up for it?" Rossi thought a nice visit might help, and he was looking forward to seeing Hotch's face when he saw Emily. "Garcia is going to explode if you don't let her see you soon." He added with a big smile.

Hotch smiled, too. "Sure. As long as whatever the doc is going to give me isn't too strong."

Right on cue, the doctor came back in. "Here you go." He said handing a little cup to Hotch.

Hotch looked at the two pills with concern. "These going to put me out of it?"

The doctor smiled. "No, I'm saving those for right before bedtime."

Rossi handed Hotch a cup of water and he swallowed the pills. "Thank you. My team is going to come up and I don't want to be too loopy."

The doctor smiled. He knew his whole team, and he liked them. "Good. I little party might be just the thing you need. Just try to keep it down to a dull roar," he joked.

Rossi laughed a little. He wasn't sure if that was going to be possible. He looked at the doctor. "Can he have some real food?" He knew Garcia was just dying to bring her boss something good to eat. They all knew how bad hospital food could be.

"Sure, just not too much. Your stomach did some shrinking, and we wouldn't want you getting sick and pulling at all those stitches." The doctor told him with a smile. "Try to get some rest before they come," and he left.

Rossi quickly sent out a group message to everyone to let them know that they could come. Hotch laid his head back. Rossi added that he needed to talk to the team first and for them to meet him in the lobby before they all came up. Rossi saw the worry still on his friends face. "There will be one of us with Jack 24/7, Hotch. We will not let anything happen to him. I will get security on Jessica, just in case, too."

"Thank you. I don't think I could handle it if anything else happened," Hotch couldn't say what else he was thinking.

"I will go make some calls. You think you'll be alright?" Rossi asked seeing how drowsy Hotch was getting. Rossi knew Hotch couldn't handle strong medicine because never even took over the counter meds. Hotch nodded. "You try to get some rest. You only have about an hour before everyone gets here." And Rossi stepped into the hall to make his calls.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 14**

Rossi smiled as he saw Garcia and Morgan arriving. Garcia was carrying several brightly colored bags and had Morgan carrying several food containers and a giant stuffed black bear. "Like your new friend, Morgan," Emily told him with a smile.

"I tried to tell her that Hotch wasn't the teddy bear type," Morgan said sheepishly. "I am not going to be the one who carries it into his room either," he told them as he flopped the bear into one of the chairs in the lobby. Reid tried hard to hide the smile on his face.

"Awwww, but it's so cute!" Emily told them truthfully. "He's big and soft. Not too cute, definitely an alpha male – he's perfectly Hotch." She told them as she inspected the bear after picking it up. Rossi raised his eyebrows at her. She hugged the bear with a smile. "It's Hotch in bear form," she added with a giggle.

"Isn't he?" Garcia agreed with a smile.

"And he's going to hate it," Reid pointed out.

"You're just jealous Garcia didn't get you one," JJ pointed out. Reid shot her a look.

"Since we're all here," Rossi started. By the tone of his voice, they all settled as Emily put the bear back in the chair. "Like we suspected, Cypress told Hotch that he was the Reaper since the beginning. That he had taken Foyet on to train him. He went after Hotch and Jack as his way to avenge Foyet's death." He made sure they were all paying attention. "He also told Hotch that he had taken on another trainee."

"What?" Morgan asked angrily.

"Oh my God." Garcia exclaimed, realizing what that statement meant.

"Is it a viable threat?" Reid asked. JJ and Emily looked at him.

"Hotch believes it is." Rossi didn't think he needed to share how much Hotch believed that threat. "I've already set up security again for Jack and Jessica. Emily will be at Hotch's home and there will be security at Jack's school. I will not make the mistake again and be too late to protect Jack." Rossi said with determination.

"Will is with Jack now, and when he is not in school, one of us will be with him," JJ added. Rossi had called her earlier.

"So does Hotch have any idea who it might be? Did Cypress give him any clues?" Emily asked.

"We were talking and Hotch just remembered that Cypress had said he started training someone else," Rossi explained.

"So our liege is still in danger?" Garcia didn't think she could handle any more bad news.

"Until we know of sure, we will assume he is." Rossi told her sadly. "We will have to go back over everything and find him. He is in Cypress' past."

"Then I will find him," she told him with assurance.

"He could have just made it all up," Morgan started. "But if there is someone out there, _we_ will find him." He told Garcia with an affectionate squeeze of her shoulders.

Garcia nodded her agreement. "Well the food is getting cold; can we go see him now?"

"Yeah. I can't wait until he sees Emily," JJ added.

"Yeah, he'll be happy about that until he finds out she's moved in with him," Reid pointed out.

"You agreed that it was the best thing," Emily countered.

"Yes, but I also pointed out that Hotch was going to hate it," he told her flatly.

"We won't tell him about that until he gets home," Rossi said with a smile. "He was in a lot of pain today, so we'll only stay if he's up for it. And we won't talk about the case unless Hotch brings it up first," he told them seriously. With nods all around, they helped Garcia gather up everything she had brought and headed for the elevator.

"I'll go in first and make sure he's awake and decent," He told them with a smile.

"Oohhh, let me," Emily said teasingly.

JJ almost chocked on her own breathing as she tried not to laugh. "You better behave."

"It's not inappropriate behavior. I don't work for him anymore," she said with a sly smile.

Rossi looked at her surprisingly. "What?" she asked innocently as Morgan and Garcia laughed. "I can tease him all I want now."

"Is it just teasing?" JJ asked suspiciously.

Emily only smiled, and they were silent the rest of the way to Hotch's room.

When they came around the corner toward Hotch's room, they all saw the agent standing outside of Hotch's door. Garcia openly gasped, but the others reacted almost invisibly, but Rossi could see that the reality of the situation set in. He quickened his step to leave the others and went to the man in the hall. "Take a break Frank. I'll call you when everyone leaves." The man nodded and walked away. Rossi knew Hotch couldn't be safer than with his whole team. He listened at the door a minute and then went in alone.

Hotch was actually sleeping peacefully. Rossi thought about not waking him, but he knew the team would be thoroughly disappointed. Garcia might actually explode like he had joked about earlier. He grinned and went to Hotch's side. He laid a hand gently on Hotch's forearm. To his surprise, Hotch opened his eyes slightly. "Hey."

"Hey." Hotch said as he rubbed his eyes. "Wow, I really fell asleep." He told Rossi with a grin.

"Feel better?" Rossi asked him as he helped him to sit up as Hotch adjusted his bed.

"Yes, actually. What time is it?"

"Time for the team to come in if you're up to it," Rossi told him nodding toward the door.

Hotch chuckled a little. "I guess there're more balloons on the other side of that door?" he asked as he looked at the balloons tied to the restroom doorknob.

"No balloons." Rossi assured him with a smile.

Hotch could tell there was something else, though. He shook his head. Rossi knew Hotch hated all of the attention, but he also knew Hotch would take it gracefully. "Let them in." And before Rossi could even take a step toward the door, Garcia burst through it.

"Oh sir!" She said enthusiastically as she ran up to Hotch's bed. Rossi could tell she wanted to give her a boss a hug, but wasn't quite sure if she could knowing how wounded he was. She decided instead to quickly grab his hand as almost everyone filed in through the door.

Hotch smiled at the colorful woman. "Garcia, I'm fine." He told her returning her grip. Her smile faded a little as tears fell down her face.

She wiped at them quickly. "Sorry." She took a deep breath. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry," she admitted.

Rossi stepped up and grabbed Garcia by the shoulders. "Hey. We are happy at this party, right?" She nodded and wiped the rest of her tears away. She let go of Hotch's hand and stepped back to let the others in.

Hotch saw JJ and got worried. "Where's Jack?"

"With Will and security," she assured him. He nodded and relaxed.

"Oooo. I got you something," Garcia told him as he noticed she was almost giddy. _Oh God_, he thought with a little dread. She grabbed the bear that Reid had be hiding behind his back and handed it to Hotch. Hotch rolled his eyes but smiled as Garcia sat the three foot tall bear on his bed.

"Really, Garcia?" Hotch asked laughing a little.

"It's so handsome. I thought of you when I saw him," she said excitedly. Hotch raised his brows at her. "Even Emily thinks it looks like you."

"Emily? Prentiss? What you just had to share a picture of it with her?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Emily said coming through the door to a very shocked Hotch.

Hotch looked at her, not sure what to say. He noticed all of the smiles surrounding him. "And how long have you been here?" He asked her seriously.

"A little over a week," She told him as she went and gave him a semi-hug. He hugged her back with a smile.

"And how long have I been in here?" He asked as he realized he didn't know.

They all glanced at each other. "This is the sixth day," Rossi told him. Hotch nodded as he realized Prentiss probably helped with the case.

"How long are you here?" Hotch asked Prentiss.

"Not sure yet." She glanced at the others. _He's already figured it out? He's good, but come on!_ "I can leave when I want."

Hotch nodded his understanding and turned his attention to Reid. "And is there something. . ."

"I told them you wouldn't like it," Reid said, breaking under the pressure. Rossi shot Reid a look as Morgan smacked him on the shoulder.

Hotch looked at all of the curiously. He could tell something was going on, but he was too tired to figure it out. _ I can blame it on the drugs_, he thought smugly. "How do you I won't like it if you won't even let me try it?"

Reid finally realized that Hotch was talking about the food containers he was holding. "Oh. . . I. . ." he stammered.

"Give them to me," Garcia said as she grabbed the containers. "Doc said nothing too strong and nothing too heavy, so I of course brought you a couple of your favorite pasta dishes." She told him with a sly grin.

Hotch chuckled a little. "I thought I smelled bacon." They all laughed. "You all gonna join me, or are you all gonna just watch me eat?"

Rossi started checking out the containers. "I'll join you."

Morgan started passing out paper plates and plastic wear. They all ate, enjoying each other's company. Hotch nibbled a little, not actually being that hungry, but he knew he had to force himself. He looked at the people around him, and he couldn't help but feel blessed. They had found him. They had saved his life and the life of his son. He knew there was someone else out there that might be a danger, but he had every faith in his team to find him.

Rossi noticed Hotch looking a little glassy eyed. "You want us to leave?"

Hotch snapped out of his thoughts. "No, I'm really enjoying the company if that's alright." Rossi smiled at him.

"Even your furry friend?" Emily asked him as she held up the bear. Hotch smiled at it. _Damn those dimples!_ She thought as she could feel the red in her cheeks.

"I told you he would like it," Garcia told Morgan.

"Sure he does, Baby Girl. You just keep telling yourself that." Morgan teased her. "So when do you get to bust out of here?" He turned his attention to Hotch.

"Couple of days, if everything goes good." Hotch answered him then turned his attention back to Emily. "Where are you staying?"

_Damn him! He does know!_ Emily tried to think of a way to avoid the question when Garcia answered, saving her.

"She's been staying with me since she's been here," Garcia quickly said. It wasn't a lie.

Hotch nodded as he took another bite. Now he was sure he was missing something. _Damn drugs!_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 15**

After eating and cleaning up, the conversations died down. Rossi noticed the pain edging its way onto Hotch's face. "Alright, time to let the boss man rest."

Hotch looked at them and gave them a small smile. The visit had been nice, but he had to agree with Rossi. He needed to rest. "Yes, I am feeling a bit tired, but thanks for coming."

They all took turns telling Hotch goodbye, and Garcia finally gave into her emotions and gave him a hug. Morgan noticed Hotch's wince, and he peeled Garcia off of Hotch. "Come on, Baby Girl you don't need crush him. He is going to be getting out soon."

"Oh, sorry," she told them with a smile.

JJ patted Hotch's good foot. "What do you think? Two hours before I bring the kids up?"

"That won't be too late? Jack has school. . ." Hotch started.

"It's Saturday," Reid announced.

"Damn." Hotch rubbed his hand down his face. "Haven't got my days down yet, so, yeah, if you think it's not too late. You could come back immediately."

"No, you take a nap. I'll bring them back later," JJ assured him. He nodded.

"See you tomorrow Hotch," Prentiss said with a smile as she patted the bear on the head. Hotch gave her a smirk after he looked at the bear.

"And no giving away Papa Bear to the kids, either," Garcia said with a smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Hotch lied. They started to file out of the little room, but Hotch called Morgan back.

"You OK?" Morgan asked, concerned.

Hotch waved him closer as everyone else looked at him questioningly, but they left the two men alone. Once the door shut Hotch fixed Morgan with a serious look. _And here we go_, Morgan thought. Hotch studied the younger man's face for a moment. "Promise me you will take Rossi home," Hotch said seriously. Morgan's mood visibly lightened. "I know he has been here since they brought me in. He looks like shit. He's been sleeping in a freaking chair for Christ's sake!"

"I can try. We've been trying to get him home every day, but he's more stubborn than you, man." Morgan told him truthfully.

Hotch smiled at the truth of that. "I know he was worried about me. Hell, I was worried about me." He paused as he tried to get himself more comfortable, the pain was growing. "I'll be fine. He needs to go home and stop living here. I know he has a guard outside my door. I'm not in any danger in here. I'll see Jack and then the doc will give me something strong, and I'll sleep through the night. You need to take him home."

"Are you saying you want me to physically take him home?"

Hotch chuckled. "I don't think you need to go that far, but maybe you might have to threaten it."

"Alright, Hotch. I will try my best" Morgan told him with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Hotch nodded and watched him leave the room. If anyone could do it, I was Morgan. He laid his head back, and quickly adjusted his bed to get more comfortable. He smiled even though he was in pain; he was going to see Jack soon.

XXX

The whole team was waiting down the hall like Morgan knew they would be.

"And what was that about?" Rossi asked suspiciously.

They were all worried, but Morgan smiled and looked right at Rossi. "You," he said plainly.

Rossi looked shocked. "What about me?" he asked with furrowed brows. He wasn't all that worried after seeing Morgan's smile, but he didn't like it none the less.

"He told me. . . He ordered me to take you home."

Emily coughed as she covered a laugh. "Are you smothering Hotch?"

Rossi looked wounded. "I am not," he insisted.

Garcia and JJ laughed at that.

Morgan smiled again. "He's worried about you. He wants you to go home and get some decent sleep."

"He's worried about me?" Rossi asked flabbergasted.

"You're constant living up here has taken a toll on your appearance," Reid pointed out.

"Thanks Reid," Rossi said dejectedly.

"He has a guard. He'll be safe," Morgan pushed.

Rossi ran a hand through his hair. "It's not just that." He paused, clearly considering something. "He's had nightmares." They all glanced at each other. Garcia put her hand over her mouth.

"That's understandable, though," Emily said with a sad look.

"And he's had a panic attack," Rossi continued. "Someone has to be here. He needs more than just protection."

"I'll stay," Emily told him. "Besides it will give me an idea how he is going to handle me staying with him."

Rossi nodded. "Ok. You realize, though, that he may not want you to stay," he pointed out.

"I'll just wait quietly by his door. I won't even go in unless I hear something."

"Yeah, just let him rest until I come back up with the boys. Then you can slip in while he's sleeping," JJ suggested.

They all agreed it was a good plan. "Ok. We'll meet back at the BAU at 9:00 in the morning. We need to start looking for this new unsub," Rossi told them. They all agreed again and left as Emily got a chair from the nurses' station to wait in the hall with Frank.

**XXXXX**

JJ and Will brought the boys up, but they didn't stay long. They could tell Hotch wasn't feeling good. Henry sure was glad to see his Uncle Aaron, though, and he and Jack gave him the pictures they had made for him. After goodbyes, kisses, and hugs, they left with promises of coming back tomorrow. Hotch immediately called for the nurse. He was in a lot of pain and since he was finally alone, he didn't feel weak for admitting it.

The nurse came in with an injection of pain meds and some sleeping pills. "You need to get a good night's sleep. The doctor says that you can go home when you can master walking around the whole floor with crutches. Well, one crutch," she quickly corrected seeing Hotch's right arm in the sling. Hotch nodded his understanding. He didn't care to think about what he would have to do tomorrow. He just wanted to go to sleep tonight. "I hope you have a restful night, Agent," the nurse told him as she turned on his restroom light but turned off all other lights leaving his room dim and quiet.

About an hour after the nurse had left, Emily quietly opened the door to Hotch's room. Hearing his steady breathing, she knew he was asleep. She decided that she would spend the night in the chair Rossi had been using, which was definitely more comfortable than the one she had been using in the hall. She studied his face; he looked peaceful. He had finally lost the hallow look he had when they had first put him into his room. She had the sudden urge to touch him, so she gently put her hand on his chest without him reacting. The image of him lying on the floor reaching for his son brought tears to her eyes. She hadn't shed any tears in front of the others; she wouldn't want them to think her weak, but right now alone in his room, looking at the strongest man she had ever met, she let her tears fall unchecked. She would never tell, but she had thought he was dead and her heart broke at the sight of him.

Emily had always liked Hotch, well after he stopped being such an ass at the beginning of her assignment to the team. She liked his professionalism, his dry humor, and it didn't hurt that he was so damn good looking. She loved teasing him, she loved how great of a father he was, and she loved his son. She had thought he had done an awesome job raising Jack as a single father, and she loved the relationship he had allowed all of them to build with the boy. _Like? Love? Exactly how do you feel about him?_ _It really doesn't matter, he doesn't have any feelings for me. Does he?_

**XXXXX**

The next morning Hotch awoke slowly. He could sense something on him, and for a second he wasn't sure where he was and it scared him awake quickly. He cautiously opened his eyes and let out the breath he was holding. He smiled as he realized the weight on his chest was the arm of Emily Prentiss. She had fallen asleep in a chair beside his bed. He should have realized that if Morgan could get Rossi to go home, that Rossi wouldn't have left him alone. He watched her sleeping. Her face was turned toward him as she breathed quietly. _Damn! Have her lashes always been that long?_ He was glad that it was Prentiss who had stayed, and he smiled as he thought that his morning just wouldn't be as nice if it had been Morgan sitting there. He had slept well, and he didn't have any nightmares, at least none that he could remember anyway. He smiled again as he realized her hair was sprawled across him. It had gotten longer since he'd seen her last. He laid his back and closed his eyes. He remembered thinking about Emily as he had hung in the building. What had made him think about her? He still wasn't sure, but he remembered promising himself to call her when everything was over, and apparently one of the girls had taken it upon herself to do just that.

He didn't know what all she had done with the case, but he assumed she had been there when they had found them. He wished he knew what had happened when they had found him. He still couldn't believe he had been in that warehouse for five days and another six in the hospital. He had lost almost two weeks of his life to that bastard. And God only knows how long he would take to heal. He mentally shook his head. _But I will heal, and that's what matters._ Now he needed to concentrate on getting better enough to help his team find the new unsub. He knew the Reaper was telling the truth. He had no reason to lie. He was boasting, proud of the fact that he was training, or had trained, someone new. He was sure of it. He wasn't sure if he could convince his team, though. He knew Rossi believed him, he had already taken the threat seriously, but he wasn't sure if Rossi was acting out of caution or guilt. He shook his head mentally again, he would just have to make them see the truth.

Emily stirred as she started to wake up. Hotch just kept his breathing steady and his eyes shut. He wasn't sure how she would take him staring at her, but he mentally smiled at the thought of her face wrinkling up as she stretched her muscles which would surely be sore after the position she had slept in. She stirred a little more and Hotch couldn't hold in a moan as she pressed a little too hard on his stomach.

Emily sat up quickly when she realized she had fallen asleep on Hotch and had apparently caused him pain. _Shit!_ She studied his face, _good, I didn't wake him up._ She quietly stood and stretched to loosen tight muscles. For a split second she could have sworn she saw a ghost of a smile cross Hotch's face. _Maybe he's dreaming. Hopefully it's something good, _she thought with a smile. She slowly walked to the door and let herself out. Frank had been relieved by a woman she didn't know, so she introduced herself and then found a restroom to freshen up.

A chuckle escaped Hotch as he scratched his chin. It finally occurred to him that someone at one point had shaved him because he had grown a beard in the warehouse, but he definitely needed another shave. He wondered how hard that was going to be one handed. He pushed the call button and waited for the nurse. If they wanted him up and walking, then they were going to have to disconnect him from a few things. He also wondered where his personal effects were, he couldn't handle not knowing what time it was.

**XXXXX**

Rossi almost had a bounce in his step. It had felt great to sleep in his own bed, _and the scotch didn't hurt either,_ he thought with a smile. He was the last one to arrive at the BAU, and he was fifteen minutes early. Everyone was going over the files again in the conference room. "Good morning children," he told them taking his usual seat. The table was round so none would be at the 'head' of it and that made them all equals. Rossi found it funny, though, that they all seemed to have unofficial assigned seats.

"Hey Dave," Blake was the only one to acknowledge Rossi's arrival.

"We were thinking that we need to take a closer look at Jason Reyer. With their connection going back so far, he might be our unsub," Reid caught Rossi up on what he had missed.

"Garcia's running his name again and trying to cross check everything. Kevin is also helping by trying to compile a list of any other person who may have been connected to Cypress from the beginning," JJ told him.

"Good. We also need to check the victim's family members for anyone who might show signs of becoming a killer," Rossi told them. With their strange looks, he continued. "Hotch said that Cypress chose Foyet right in the car when he knew that he could exploit him. Maybe he watched the victim's families for someone else."

Morgan nodded his understanding and dialed Garcia's lair.

"You know, we have to take into consideration that there may not be a new unsub. Cypress could have just been screwing with Hotch," Blake pointed out.

"That's true, but until we know for sure. We have to suspect there is," Rossi told her seriously.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 16**

Emily went down to the cafeteria to get herself a cup of coffee. She wouldn't be long and she knew Hotch was sleeping and protected. She had dreamed about him, and whether it was because she had fallen asleep on him or because she had fallen asleep thinking about how she felt about him, the dreams had left her walking around with a smile. It wasn't a fantasy or anything sexual; it was just all of the little moments in her life with Hotch. The one that played so prevalently in her mind was the dance they had shared at JJ and Will's wedding. Again there was nothing sexual about it, _he was with Beth for Christ's sake_, but she thought that was one of the defining moments that made her understand that she had feelings for him. It was the main reason she had chosen to go back to Interpol. She couldn't work for a man whom she loved. Not only was it against FBI rules, Hotch was happy with Beth. Emily had to admit, though, that when Garcia had told her about Beth moving, she had done a little fist pump. Garcia hadn't been sure exactly where the relationship stood, but she had told Emily that Hotch didn't seem too broken up by the fact she had left. Besides, none of the girls had even liked Beth, and they had made Beth the target of their 'girl's night out' demented fantasies as they each had come up with ideas of how to get rid of the woman. Emily often wondered if JJ or Garcia had ever suspected her of actually having feelings for Hotch. Sure they teased her about it, but she wondered if they had ever suspected the truly deep feelings she had.

By the time she got back to Hotch's room there was a flutter of nurses entering and leaving his room. Panic stricken, she approached Hannah, the agent on guard. "What's wrong?"

Seeing her mood the agent quickly smiled and answered, "They are trying to get him up and walking, and he's giving them a fit about it."

Emily let out the breath she had been holding and peaked in. "I don't care how many of you will be standing around me, I am not walking around without any pants on!" Hotch demanded. He was standing with the rear opening of his hospital gown facing his bed arguing with the two nurses who were still in his room. Emily noticed the famous 'Hotch stare' was working on the younger woman as she timidly backed away from him.

The older nurse, though, stood her ground, unfazed. "Agent Hotchner," she said patiently as if she were talking to a young child, "there is no way you are going to get a pair of pants around the boot on your foot." When she noticed him getting ready to reply, she quickly added, "and no, you cannot take it off."

Emily could tell Hotch was getting past the point of trying to be nice and quickly went all the way into the room. The older woman gave her a pleading look as if to ask for help. Emily smiled nicely and went to the little closet in the room.

"Prentiss, tell her I am not. . . " he started.

Without a word and trying desperately to hide the smile that really wanted to show itself, she grabbed his 'go bag' and started rummaging through it. "Here Hotch," she handed him a pair of sweat pants someone had packed for him. He grabbed them with a look of triumph to the older nurse. "If you have a pair of scissors, we can cut the leg opening enough so that it can fit over the boot." The older woman left in a huff, but the younger woman said she would bring a pair right back. Emily finally let herself smile as Hotch sat on the bed easily and stared at her.

"Thank you. I think that older one might have drugged me to get me into the hall," he told her seriously.

"Now, I doubt that." She sat beside him careful not to jostle him. "So how are you feeling?"

"Like a kid who was about to get grounded," he said with a smile. "They want me up and moving, but they don't care how that makes a person feel."

"Most people probably are more concerned about getting better than they are about someone seeing their backside." She told him picturing that very thing.

He eyed her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "And the thought of seeing me humiliated amuses you?"

Emily bit her lip to get rid of the smile that had crossed her face without her even realizing it. "Yeah. Seeing the great prim and proper SSA Aaron Hotchner's tush hanging out would be kind of amusing," she told him honestly. The young nurse came in and gave the scissors to Emily, apparently afraid of Hotch and quickly left. "Give 'em here," she told him taking the pants and quickly cutting up the seam of the right leg. "Now these should work." She gave them back to him.

"Thank you."

"You need help getting into them?" She asked with a sly smile.

He glared at her for a moment, but gave it up as he realized that he probably would need some help. "You can help me get them on my legs. It hurts to bend over too far."

Her slyness was replaced with sadness as she got up and helped him into the pants. She brought them up to his exposed thighs, and she couldn't help herself. "You need help pulling them all the way up?"

"You just can't stop can you?" he asked with a glare she could tell was not genuine.

"Nope," was all she said with a wicked smile.

"I think I can handle them from here," he told her as he stood up on his good leg and pulled them up making sure to pull them up behind his gown. It took him a little while as he realized how awkward it was to pull them up with only one hand. After finally twisting the pants around rightfully, he gave her a triumphant look. "See?"

She stood up and grabbed the crutch the nurse provided. As she handed it to him, she asked, "are you sure you're up for this?" She didn't want him hurting himself by rushing.

"God yes! I think even if the doctor had told me I had to jog around the floor, that I would have killed myself trying. I have to get out of here." He told her seriously.

She went and held the door open for him. "Then let's do this."

She stayed close to his side as he made his way down the hall. She wouldn't let him fall and pull his stitches.

Hannah walked closely behind them. Rossi had threatened her with her life if she let anything happen to Hotch, and while she didn't think applied to hospital accidents, she wasn't going to find out the hard way.

"If you need to stop and rest, I can get you a chair," Emily suggested. She could see how much he was struggling. No one else would probably be able to see it, but she knew him too well.

"I'll rest when I'm home," he told her flatly.

She nodded her understanding. She hated hospitals, too. Since he brought up 'home,' she figured she might as well bring up what he was going to find out sooner or later. "You know, you're going to need help at home. . ." she started.

"And I assume that's why you will be staying with me?" he asked her as he continued down the hall.

_I knew it! He did know!_ "Yep," was all she could say as she tried to figure out what gave it away.

"I also assume that the whole team was trying to work out a schedule for them all to take turns at being my care giver?"

_Really?_ "Yes, but I stopped them. . ."

"Because you argued that you could stay the whole time?"

_Alright, somebody had to tell him._ "Yes, and it's true."

He nodded but didn't say anything. She could tell he was trying to figure out an argument against it, but she also could see pain in his face. "You don't have to make it all the way around in the first attempt."

_How could she know I was in pain?_ He wondered. "Alright. I think I am done for now," he admitted with a little moan.

"I'll get you a wheel chair and take you back," she told him as she helped him lean against the wall.

**XXXXX**

The team had decided they would take turns going to visit Hotch while the others continued working to find their unsub. JJ said she would wait until the evening so she could take the boys, so Reid and Blake decided they would go first. Garcia had given them food for Emily and Hotch's lunch. She couldn't let any of her family eat the hospital food because she had tried it that first day after Hotch was admitted, and she was appalled.

Rossi and Morgan had gone to interrogate Reyer. If he was the unsub, they would break him. If not, maybe he knew someone Cypress had a connection to. While they were with him, Garcia and Kevin dug up everything they could on Cypress, and while they had already done it when they realized he was the one who had Hotch and Jack, they had been desperate and might have missed something in the rush.

JJ had started contacting the people on the complied list of victim's families to see if any of them had any contact with Cypress, but she wasn't finding any.

**XXXX**

A gloved hand spread out pictures of the BAU team on a table top, picking up each one and inspecting it for a few moments. The self-proclaimed new Reaper decided that Agent Hotchner would pay for killing Cypress, but getting to him was going to be difficult with everything that had happened. There was bound to be security around the man, so maybe a roundabout way was in order. The Reaper slammed a fist down on the table and silently vowed that Hotchner would die.

**-Just a quick chapter, and I'm sorry about that, but I wanted you all to know that Cypress was telling the truth and make you all chew on that as you try to guess what's gonna happen next - *evil grin***

**PS - Thanks for reading and all of the great reviews!**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 17**

After lunch and two more attempts around the floor, Hotch finally made it all the way around without too much pain, but he really noticed how easily exhausted he got. He spent the day visiting with everyone as they came and chatting with Emily when they were alone. His doctor came in to check on him in the afternoon and Emily left them alone. "I heard you've been pushing yourself pretty hard today," the doctor told him as he checked Hotch's chart. Hotch just shrugged. "What, in too much pain to speak?" The doctor asked with raised brows.

"No. I just don't think I pushed too hard, maybe not hard enough."

The doctor nodded and put the chart back down. "Let me see your arm, please. Has the movement of your exercise today bothered it at all?"

Hotch swung his legs over the side of the bed and scooted to the edge so the doctor could reach his wounded arm. "Not at all. My leg hurts a bit, though, and of course my torso is a little sore."

"So, of course, you think you are ready to go home?" The doctor asked with a raised brow.

"I believe that I would be fine going home." Hotch told him honestly as the doctor started to loosen the straps on the sling. Hotch winced a little as the doctor pulled the sling off his arm.

"Too bad?" the doctor asked clearly asking about pain. Hotch shook his head. "Can you hold your arm out? Move gently, it's been in the same position since your surgery."

Hotch moved his forearm away from his stomach first. _Not bad_, he thought. Trying to get elbow away from his side was a different story, though. It was as if someone had filled his upper arm with concert and it was far heavier than it should have been.

"Let me help," the doctor suggested as he gently grabbed Hotch's elbow and lifted it as he watched Hotch's face for any sings of pain. A slight grimace appeared by the time Hotch's arm was parallel with the floor. "I'm going to let go. See if you can hold it there but don't keep it there if it hurts too badly. Don't let it go down too fast either." He took one hand away and then the other.

Hotch held it there without too much pain, and he hid that behind well-trained facial expressions.

"Can you rotate it at all?" He asked and Hotch complied rotating his wrist and elbow clockwise, but that brought a small wince. "The other way?" Hotch complied again, but didn't wince. "Is the pain in your shoulder or coming from the wound?"

"Mainly the muscle," Hotch told him truthfully.

"Good. Can you raise your arm above your head?" Hotch tried, but pain brought him to a halt quickly. With a disgusted look, he lowered his arm back to its original position. "Don't be too discouraged, that will get better and easier with physical therapy." Hotch nodded, but it didn't make him feel any better. "I do need to see your stitches, though." Hotch offered his arm again turning it so the doctor to get to the inside of his arm. He unwrapped the bandages and looked at the wound. The foot long slice looked red and irritated. "Has this been hurting?" the doctor asked clearly concerned.

"Yeah, but I just figured it was because of the severity of it." Hotch noticed little red streaks coming from the wound going around his arm. He knew instantly that it was infected. _Barring any complications, you should heal fully,_ Hotch remembered what the doctor had told him after he had woken up. _Damn it!_

The doctor pressed on the wound lightly. Hotch sucked in a gasp and fluid began to run down his arm. The doctor took a deep breath. "Well, we'll start you on IV antibiotics immediately. . ." he started. _Damn it! IV means staying here, _Hotch thought with disgust. "I will also have a nurse clean it, but we will not wrap it. Hopefully we can get the infection under control, and maybe if we leave you out of the sling and keep it away from your body, it will heal faster. Do you think you could keep the shoulder movements to a minimum without a sling?" Hotch nodded. "Any of the other wounds bothering you?"

Hotch focused on his body. That afternoon was the first time he hadn't had any pain medicine. "I don't think so. My leg's a little sore, but I did use it a little. I don't think it's anything serious, though."

"Well, since we're here, we might as well check them all out. Let's get you out of that gown." He helped Hotch shrug the gown off and told him to get back up in bed. Hotch did as he was told, consciously keeping his bad arm steady, and he laid down when he was finally in position. As the doctor removed all of the bandages and checked his other wounds, all Hotch could think of was the horrible things that could happen to his arm. _Shit, if it gets worse they may have to remove it. I can't lose my arm._ Hotch was pulled out of his thoughts when he realized the doctor was talking to him. "Lift your leg some so I can push up the material and check your thigh. Hotch did as he was told. The cut in the material made it easy. After a moment, the doctor pulled the material back down. "I am going to have the nurse clean all of your wounds, but the only one that isn't healing properly is that one on your arm. How about we let you shower, and when you're done the nurse can come in and get these taken care of?"

The thought of a hot shower sounded wonderful after the couple days of embarrassing sponge baths. "That would be fine."

The doctor could tell Hotch's mood had changed with the realization of the infection. "You know, a strong antibiotic only needs to be administered for only a few hours." Hotch looked at him quickly. "And if you promise a return visit in two days, I can still let you go home tomorrow," he told him with a smile.

That made Hotch smile, too. "Oh, OK. That sounds great."

_Yep, that's what was bothering him_, the doctor thought with a little chuckle. "After you get settled for the night, we'll start the IV so you won't have to drag it around with you for the rest of the day, but I will get you started on antibiotic pills now. I would suggest you take your shower soon, so those wounds can be tended to right away." Hotch nodded. "Do you think you'll need help with the shower?" he asked already knowing the answer by the look on Hotch's face.

"No. I think I can handle that myself." Hotch said even embarrassed by the thought.

"Are you going to take it now?"

"I don't see why not."

"Then I'll send in a nurse. . ."

"I don't need help. . ."

"To put a plastic wrap on your boot. Can't get that wet," The doctor finished with a laugh.

Hotch laughed a little, too. "Oh."

The doctor left to make the arrangements with a promise to check on him in the evening. As soon as he left Emily came back in. She saw Hotch lying there, half naked and saw all of the wounds on his torso. When Hotch caught her looking, he quickly threw the cover over himself, very self-conscious. She smiled sadly. Hotch had never let them see him without a shirt. They had guessed it was because he was embarrassed by the scars Foyet had left him with and not just from him being so proper. She walked up to him. "We all have scars, Hotch," she told him with a soft voice.

He looked at her. He knew wasn't making fun of him, and he knew she had scars from Ian Doyle, but he still couldn't bring himself to be open about them. "I get to finally take a shower," he told her to change the subject.

"Yeah?" She flashed him a wide smile. "Need any help with that?"

His eyes went wide. "Jesus, have you lost control of your ability to behave appropriately?"

"It's no fun behaving," she told him coyly.

He just shook his head and the same young nurse that he had scared earlier came in with a plastic bag. He could tell she wasn't sure if she wanted to approach him. Emily laughed. "His bark is much worse than his bite," she told the young woman with a smile. The nurse wasn't sure whether she believed Emily or not, but she made her way to the bed, gave Hotch his new pills, and prepared the boot for the shower.

"Thank you," Hotch said nicely, but she jumped at the sound of his voice just the same and quickly left. Hotch grabbed his cup of water and took the pills.

Emily smacked him on the good shoulder. "Stop scaring that poor girl!"

"I didn't do anything," Hotch told her in a way that reminded her of a young child trying to get out of trouble. He just lay there, waiting for her to leave. Emily just smiled and stared back. "Really Prentiss? I need to take a shower and I am not going to get up until you leave."

"Really Hotch? I am going to be staying with you. I think I will see your upper half naked at some point and time. . "

"Doubtful."

"Oh jeeze." She sighed heavily at him, grabbed his bathroom bag out of his 'go bag', and put it in the bathroom. She then handed him his crutch with a smile and left.

He shook his head and the image of her joining him in the shower made him blush. _What the hell? Get a grip Hotch, there's no way she's actually serious. Is she?_ He tried to figure that out as he headed to the shower. The steam and the hot water stung his wounds at first, but then it relaxed him and he just stood there letting it wash away the last two weeks. He cleaned himself and turned off the water thinking how nice it would be to finally be home. He carefully stepped out of the shower using the sink for help. He stood there and stared at himself in the mirror. He had to admit to himself that he looked better than he thought he would. The plastic surgeon did a great job; in fact, Hotch thought the scar tissue from Foyet was completely gone. All that was left were thin lines with stitches running through them. Whether it was Reaper's cuts or the surgeon's scalpel Hotch didn't know, but he felt that the wounds would end up looking better in the end. Then he looked at his arm. The stitches around his shoulder looked fine, but the inside of his bicep looked swollen and angry. After everything he had been through, he could handle a little infection, well, maybe not little, but, still, it was a small price to pay for his recovery.

He dried off and realized he didn't have any of his clothes in the bathroom. As he tried to figure out how he was going to get clothes, he brushed his teeth and decided to shave. It wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be, and he sent up a 'thank you' for being left handed. He wondered if the Reaper had known he was left handed. _Yeah right! He was planning on me dying, he wasn't being nice by not attacking my dominate arm!_ He decided to just put the sweats back on and go get his clothes. He knew anyone could come into his room at any time, and he wasn't going to chance going out naked. He struggled to get his feet into the leg holes as it did hurt to bend over too far. _Thank God for long arms_, he thought with a smile. He opened the door and came face to face with Emily. She was holding a hospital gown.

"Really? Are you trying to catch me naked or something?"

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. "If I truly wanted to catch you naked, I would have just peeked." Hotch blushed. And she nodded toward the door he was hiding behind. "No locks." She watched him blush even redder and handed the gown to him. "The nurse wants you in this so she can access all of your wounds."

With a glare he took them, but also noticed there was a pair of his boxers wrapped in the gown. Extremely embarrassed at the thought of Emily holding his underwear, he quickly shut the door to change.

"Sure you don't need any help?"

"Prentiss!" was all she heard as she went back to the chair and waited for him to emerge.

**XXXXX**

Rossi and Morgan went back to the BAU in silence. Reyer didn't give them anything useful. He had admitted to being a friend of Cypress' when they were young, but he told them he hadn't heard from him for almost ten years until he contacted him about freeze drying blood over three years ago. He also admitted to doing it without questions and kept it for him until he came and asked for it two weeks ago. He adamantly told them he had no idea that Cypress was a killer. Rossi and Morgan believed him and left with nothing to help them find their new unsub.

On their arrival back in the bullpen, JJ told them that she had struck out, too. Reid and Blake had helped her after their visit to the hospital, but they couldn't find anyone in the victim's families who had any contact with Cypress.

Garcia and Kevin had been complying data all day, and they had not seen any red flags either. So they all decided to go over the all of the evidence again. With the pressure of finding Hotch and Jack and the fact that they were looking for info on Cypress, they might have missed something that would point to a protégé. With all of the stacks of files, it was going to be a long night.

At 6:00, JJ told them she needed to go get the boys. Rossi volunteered to go with her. The whole team knew he was having withdrawals from Hotch. Morgan even teased him about not going up first thing in the morning to check on him. With a glare to Morgan, Rossi added that he would only be gone about an hour and he would be back to help with the files. Morgan just smiled and told him to leave.

**XXXXX**

The Reaper watched a recording of Cypress torturing Hotch. Surprised to find the recorder still hidden in the building, The Reaper laughed at the incompetency of the FBI and local police. Fast forwarding through the actual torture, the recording slowed to the last moments of Cypress' life. As the tape was watched, the Reaper fingered through the photographs of Rossi, Morgan, Reid, JJ, and Blake. The other gloved hand drummed on a table as the Reaper tried to decide on a plan of action.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 18**

JJ , Rossi, Will, Henry, and Jack joined Emily and Hotch for dinner. Rossi had stopped and got them all dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. Emily had called Rossi to make sure he warned Jack and Henry about Hotch's arm, they didn't want the boys to get overly excited about the sling being gone. The visit went well, and Jack got ecstatic when he heard his father was going to going home the next day. He had spent the whole time either at JJ's or Jessica's and he missed his home. Henry told Hotch that he was glad that his beard was gone and everyone laughed. Rossi could tell Hotch wanted to ask about the case, but he would never ask about it in front of the kids. Will figured it out without being told and took the boys to get a snack from the vending machines.

"So have we found anything?" Hotch asked as soon as the door to his room shut.

"Nothing yet," Rossi admitted.

"We've rechecked everything and haven't found anyone that Cypress had contact with that he would have trained," JJ told him and he could hear the frustration in her voice.

"It would have to have been someone after Foyet's death," Hotch started. "The Reap. . . Cypress," Hotch corrected himself after the looks JJ and Rossi gave him. "He said that he had a hard time finding someone who had the right traits to be a killer."

Emily chuckled. "That seems unlikely." Hotch nodded.

"But you think he did," JJ sort of half asked half stated.

"I do. He gloated about it." Hotch told her simply.

"Cypress waited, what, almost four years to stat killing?" Emily asked them. "What if this new protégé waits for years, too, before he strikes?"

Hotch could tell that JJ and Rossi were wondering the same thing. "I don't know," he said simply.

Rossi could tell that Hotch knew the implications of the question. Strauss would never authorize all of the security they had set up around his family to last if they didn't have any idea of who the unsub was or when he would strike. Rossi saw Hotch thinking. "Hotch, we will find him."

"How? Unless he starts killing or unless he comes after me or my family, we have no way to know who he is," Hotch told them. Rossi could hear the defeat in his voice. "Am I just supposed to wait? When will it be? Tomorrow? Next week? Eight years from now when Jack's on his first date?" Rossi didn't need a heart rate monitor to tell that Hotch was starting to get really upset.

Emily stepped up to Hotch and put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched away as his breathing became rapid. "Hotch,"

"I can't do this," Hotch told them weakly as he started to shake.

"Hotch, come on. . ." Rossi started when the door opened and Jack started to come in.

"Hey, I want to show you guys something," JJ quickly took Jack back into the hall.

Emily looked like she was going to cry. She knew exactly what Hotch was going through. _No you don't! Doyle was only after me, not my son!_ "Hotch, you will protect him," she tried to reassure him. Rossi put his hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down.

"Really?" He laughed out loud. "Really? I can't even pull up my own pants without struggling!" He yelled at her. She flinched at his anger.

"And that's why we will protect you both until the time comes when you can do it yourself," Rossi said in a calm voice, hoping Hotch wouldn't have another panic attack. "Hotch, you need to calm down," Rossi demanded as he grabbed Hotch's forearm. Hotch tried to pull away, but Rossi held him firm, and actually pulled him into a hug. "It's going to be okay," Rossi told him as he patted his back. Hotch broke down and started crying. Emily cried with him.

"I can't let anything happen to Jack. I almost lost him to that Bastard! I can't handle knowing he's in danger and I can't protect him." Hotch cried against Rossi's shoulder. "I. . . I can't. . ."

"It's okay. It's okay." He told him.

Emily heart broke a little at the sight. Hotch looked like a fragile child in Rossi's arms, and she wasn't sure if she could handle seeing the strong, stoic man who used to be her boss break down. It shook her to her core. She didn't think it made him weak, but it definitely made him more human then she had ever seen.

"That's what you have the team for. We are your family Hotch, and we will protect you and Jack. And this time we will not fail you, I promise! " Rossi rubbed Hotch's back. "Come on, you can trust us."

Hotch sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I know," he said weakly as he pulled out of Rossi's arms. "I'm sorry," he said as he looked Rossi in the eyes. Rossi gave him a small smile.

Hotch looked at Emily. She wanted to fade into the wall. She was sure Rossi had seen Hotch like this before, but she was also sure Rossi had been the only one. She felt embarrassed to have witnessed it. She also noticed that Hotch felt embarrassed for her to have seen it. "I'm going to. . . I'm gonna go check on the kids," she said as she disappeared into the hall.

"God! Could I be anymore pathetic!" Hotch said as he struggled to get off his bed.

"Hotch, we all know what you are going through. Emily would never think any less of you," Rossi told him honestly. "You need to get yourself cleaned up so Jack can come back and tell you good night. He doesn't need to see that you are scared, that will only scare him, too."

Hotch nodded as he went to the restroom. Jack had survived without any memory, and Hotch knew that Jack didn't have any reason to be scared. It would kill him if he let on that anything was wrong and made his son afraid. He splashed water on his face trying to erase the trace of tears and fear. He did trust his team, but the not knowing was killing him. How could he go on like there wasn't someone waiting in the wings to finish what Cypress had started? He took a deep breath. He would go on, he had to. The team would protect them, even without official security, until he was capable of protecting himself and his son, and they would continue looking for the unsub. _But how do you look for someone when you don't even know who he is?_ He took another deep breath and tried to smile. He looked at himself in the mirror, and the sight actually made him laugh. He looked like shit, but at least he didn't look like he had just had a meltdown. He was going to go home tomorrow and Jack would be with him, and that made him actually smile. Now he could face his son.

The rest of the visit went off without a hitch. Jack and Henry didn't pick up on any of the emotions that had run so rampant in the room earlier, and they left with kisses and hugs and Jack's promise to be with whoever was taking Hotch home in the morning. Emily hadn't come back in with them, and Hotch wondered if she had left.

"Well, I gotta go, too," Rossi said as he grabbed his jacket. "I told the team I would be back to help go over the files. We aren't giving up on finding this son of a bitch, Hotch." he put his hand on Hotch's good shoulder. "You're going home tomorrow, Emily with be with you and Jack. Let us focus on finding him, and you focus on getting yourself better." Hotch nodded and sat down on his bed as Rossi left the room. He was extremely tired. _When am I gonna stop being so tired?_ He pushed the 'call nurse' button and laid himself down. He was ready for the IV the doctor had promised.

A nurse came in and he let her know we was ready for bed. She left to go get the antibiotics. The doctor came in next. "How are you feeling Agent Hotchner?" Hotch let out a long sigh. "That bad, huh?"

Hotch chuckled. "I'm arm is killing me, I'm sore all over, and I am more tired than I have ever been in my life. That bad enough?"

"Yeah, I would say so." The doctor smiled. "How about some sleeping pills and some extra pain pills to ensure a decent night sleep. Maybe if we can get you over feeling so tired, the rest will work itself out." Hotch nodded and the doctor left to pass his orders on to the nurse.

After talking to the nurse, the doctor noticed Emily standing in the hall by Hotch's door. "Agent Prentiss," he said as he came up and leaned on the wall next to her. "He kick you out?"

Emily smiled, "no."

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

Emily gave him a puzzled look. "I guess."

"Was the person responsible for Agent Hotchner's injuries caught?"

Emily couldn't tell if he was worried about Hotch or his own personal safety. "Actually, Agent Hotchner took care of him before here was brought in," Emily told him proudly. The doctor raised his eyebrows, clearly shocked. He left her as he walked down the hall with a smile.

Emily waited until the nurse had come and gone. Then she waited twenty more minutes before quietly going into Hotch's room. He was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, but she didn't think he was asleep yet. She wasn't sure if he wanted to see her or not, but she knew he would have to face her sooner or later. She didn't disturb him as she took a seat in a chair next to the wall.

"You don't haf to sit ore there," he told obviously under the effect of the sleeping pills already.

She smiled and went to the seat beside his bed. Before she could say anything, though, he looked at her and fixed her with one of his stares which in his state, Emily thought looked rather comically. "Hey," she said with a smile.

"I'm sury bot erler," he started.

"It's fine, Hotch. Go to sleep. We can talk in the morning," she told him as she patted his hand. To her surprise he grabbed her hand, nodded, laid his head back, closed his eyes, and mumbled something else she couldn't understand. She looked at his hand. He had intertwined his fingers with her and while his gripped relaxed a little, their fingers were still together. _He can't even realize he was doing it_, she had to tell herself, but she didn't remove her hand either.

XXX

The Reaper had watched as JJ and Will left with the kids. The kids weren't important now; the boy wasn't the one who had killed Cypress. Finally Rossi emerged and made his way to his car. The Reaper started his vehicle and followed Rossi out onto the road.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 19**

Rossi never noticed the car following him, but the Reaper smacked the dash of the car as the FBI headquarters came into view. With a shake, the Reaper resigned to just have to wait until Rossi would lead the way to his house.

**XXXXX**

After several hours and not one lead, the BAU team decided it was time to call it a night. Rossi took a deep breath through his nose as he realized the clock was showing 12:47 am. They all made a promise to meet in the morning for Hotch to go home. Emily had promised to text them once she knew what time Hotch was going to be released. Rossi told them that he wanted to check Hotch's house before he got home, and they all agreed that it was better to be safe than sorry. As they all went to their vehicles, they were all too tired to notice a car was started down the block.

**XXXXX**

Hotch woke up and tried to swallow but realized he had an extremely dry throat. He unconsciously started to reach for the cup of water that he knew would be on the stand beside the bed, but realized his hand wouldn't move. He looked at his hand and smiled as he noticed that Emily's fingers were intertwined with his. He wondered if he had had a nightmare and Emily tried to calm him by holding his hand. A smile formed on his lips as realized he didn't care why, he was just glad it had happened. He slowly tried to take his hand away from hers without waking her, but she jumped like someone had pinched her. She pulled her hand away quickly and sat up. "What's wrong?" She asked, not sure what had made her jump.

"Nothing," Hotch started, "I just need a drink," he told her hoarsely.

She grabbed his cup and handed it to him. _Was he still holding my hand?_ She wondered as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

He took several long sips from the straw as he studied her face. _She's cute when she wakes up. God! Really? Cute? Where the hell did that come from?_

She looked at him. _Is he blushing?_ She wondered as he tried to hide behind the cup. He cleared his throat and put the cup back on the stand. "How do you feel?" she asked as she stood up and stretched. As she twisted her body, he found his eyes drawn to her ass.

He shook his head quickly and looked away. "Alright I guess." He admitted as he rubbed his hand down his face to try and cover up the blush he could feel in his cheeks.

"How did you sleep?"

"Fine."

"You still up for going home today?" His smile answered her, but he nodded. "Let me see your arm," she told him getting as close to his bed as possible.

He lifted his bad arm enough for her to inspect it, but he winced when he saw the angry wound. It had swollen even more through the night, and the stitches looked like they were going to rip any second. "Damn it!"

"Oww! Damn, Hotch. That has got to be painful." She could tell that the only thing Hotch was actually worried about was the chance of not going home. "I'll be right back," she told him going for the door.

"Prentiss, don't te. . ." he started but couldn't finish as she was out the door too fast. He slammed his good hand down onto his bed. He took a deep breath as he waited for the doctor or a nurse to surly come running in.

Emily came back a moment later with a water pitcher. He gave her a puzzle look as she walked past him to the restroom. She came back with a hand towel full of ice. "Here, if we can get the swelling down before the doctor checks on you, he shouldn't be worried enough to keep you here." He smiled as she put the ice pack on top of an extra pillow and gently moved his arm to rest on it.

"I could kiss you," he said before he realized the words had escaped his mouth. With raised brows she smiled. His words finally sunk in and he stammered as he tried to apologize. "I. . . I didn't. . ."

"Oh no you don't," she stopped him. "It's too late to take it back. Now you owe me." She said with a sly smile as she batted her eyes.

He cleared his throat again as he felt his face get red and looked down at the blanket that seemed really important all of a sudden. She laughed and playfully smacked his good shoulder. "Is it alright if I use your restroom to change and freshen up?"

"Sure," he said without even looking at her.

She grabbed her bag and headed for the restroom with a smile. "Don't worry," she called back to him before she shut the door. "I won't use your shower."

He looked at the closed door and couldn't help it but the image of her taking a shower came into his mind. With a sigh and a moan he admonished himself. _Would you stop it, Hotch! My God what has gotten into you?_ He ran his hand through his hair and decided that it was Prentiss' fault for being such a flirt. _She's always been a flirt, though. What's changed?_ He shook his head and decided that it had to have something to do with living through the warehouse and knowing that life was precious. He had vowed to call her, but what was he going to say to her? Was he going to finally tell her that he had had feelings for her for since his divorce from Haley? _Probably not! You don't even know how she feels about you. Why would you put yourself out there just to get shot down?_ He was pulled out of his thoughts as the bathroom door opened.

"You want me to get the nurse to take out that IV?" She asked studying his face. She couldn't figure out what he had been thinking about, and she wasn't sure if he looked angry or sad.

"Sure," he told her plainly as he hid the ice pack under the covers.

The nurse removed the IV and Hotch got up to do his morning routine in the restroom. Emily sat in the chair and figured that he was shaving. The only time she had seen him unshaven on purpose was in the pictures JJ had sent her from when he got back from Pakistan. Everyone was so shocked at the sight of Hotch wearing a beard that JJ snuck a picture of him with her phone. She had to admit that while she didn't like the full beard, she did like it when he was scruffy from a couple days without shaving. _Maybe I can hide all of his razors for a couple days,_ she thought with an evil grin.

Hotch emerged freshly shaven and hair combed just right. Even in a hospital gown he looked formidable. He hopped to his bed and quickly covered up. Even though he had boxers on under the gown, Emily could tell he felt self-conscious. She smiled as she thought of him in just his boxers. _Damn Emily, go ahead and undress him with your eyes why don't you._

The doctor came in about a half hour later and Hotch quickly hid the ice pack. "Sleep well?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, I actually feel awake today," Hotch admitted.

"Good, I can give some sleeping pills to use if you think you might need them," he suggested. He sat on Hotch's bed and asked for his arm. Hotch held it out and while it didn't look as red as it had the day before, it still didn't look good. The doctor pressed on it and Hotch bit back a moan. "Well, as long as you promise to continue to ice it for the next couple of days," he started. Hotch and Emily exchanged quick glances. "Oh come on, I may not be in the FBI, but I can still feel when skin has been exposed to ice," he told them both. "How bad was it?" he asked seriously. Hotch bit his lip. Just because he iced it, he didn't have to be completely honest about how it looked.

"Bad," Emily answered for him before he had a chance to lie. Hotch shot her a look.

The doctor pursed his lips and inhaled through his nose. He shook his head as he examined the wound again. Hotch shot Emily a dirty look over the doctor's head. Emily just stuck out her tongue. "I know you want to go home," the doctor started and Hotch went to reply but the doctor quickly went on. "And I do believe that you would probably just sneak out of here if I tried to get you to stay; so I will let you leave, but I want to put you on a stronger antibiotic." Hotch smiled; he could live with that. "And of course a visit back here in two days."

"I will make sure he comes," Emily told him.

"I want to see your foot, though," the doctor said moving to the end of Hotch's bed. He started undoing the straps around the boot and examined the wound on the top of Hotch's foot. "Have you been putting weight on this?" He asked looking at Hotch.

"You told me not to for a couple of weeks," Hotch told him innocently.

"So, of course, that means you have," the doctor said with a smile. Emily gave Hotch an 'I told you so' look. Hotch returned the look by sticking out his tongue at her. The doctor got off the bed to inspect the sole of Hotch's foot. "This is healing nicely, but you need to keep the boot on except for showering and sleeping," he told Emily clearly believing she would be the one to enforce it.

"Of course," she told him with a smile. Hotch rolled his eyes.

"I will leave this off for you to go ahead and get dressed. Please be careful and don't wear anything that might pull the stitches." Hotch nodded his agreement. "Physical therapy for the shoulder in three days and the stitches come out when you come back in two days. I will have to assess your foot then too, but I think the boot will be around for about six weeks or so. I will go and get things processed; you should be able to get discharged in about an hour," the doctor told him with a smile and left.

Emily sent everyone a text to let them know then handed Hotch his crutch. As he headed for the restroom, she grabbed his 'go bag'. As she handed it to him she smiled. "And 'no', there is not a suit in there." He grabbed it and shut the door wondering what else they had packed him.

He finally came out wearing a pair of faded jeans and a blue t-shirt. "I need a belt," he confessed as he showed how big the jeans were.

Emily frowned. "How long has it been since you wore them?"

Hotch shrugged. "I don't know, but I guess a little too baggy is better than a little too tight," he told her as he sat on the bed with his socks in his hand. He leaned down to pull one on his wounded foot and a moan escaped him.

"Let me," Emily said as she grabbed the sock.

Hotch didn't let it go as he said, "I can do it." They played tug-of-war with it.

"I can help. You don't need to pull your stitches for a pair of socks, Hotch," she said as she pulled harder on the sock.

"I can dress myself!" he demanded as he tried to pull the sock out of her hand.

She grabbed it with both hands. "Stop being such a big baby." She smiled as she knew both of her arms were stronger than his one good one at that moment.

"Fine." He let it go and she fell back a step.

She gave him the evil eye but stretched the sock and gently pushed it over his wounded foot. She put her hand out for the other and he gave it without arguing. After getting it on, she pushed up the pant leg on his wounded leg and secured the boot back in place. "And now we wait."

XXX

Finally the nurse came in with Hotch's pills, instructions, prescriptions, and discharge papers. JJ and Jack showed up as Hotch was signing the papers. Jack ran over to his dad, but very carefully hugged his waist. "I'm glad you're coming home Daddy!"

"Me, too, Buddy."

"Aunt Emmy is coming, too!" Jack told him excitedly. JJ gave Emily a look.

"Yeah. I already know," Hotch told him. Emily smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"I know you can't play with me yet, but Emmy can," Jack told him with a smile. Clearly he had it all figured out.

"Yep. Me and you can play soccer while Daddy rests and watches us," Emily told him with a smile.

Reid knocked on the door as he and Blake entered. "Wow Hotch, you look happy to be going home," Blake told him.

"Wouldn't you be?" Hotch asked with raised brows.

"Yeah, I guess. Morgan and Garcia are going to meet us there. Garcia said something about needing to go shopping," Blake told him with a smile. Hotch moaned.

"I think she's actually getting groceries this time. She said she knew your cupboards would be empty," Reid assured him.

"Yeah, I was going to do that," Emily told them.

"You've already been to my house?" Hotch asked with a worried look.

"Yep," was all she said as she packed the cards that the kids had made in her bag.

"Where's Rossi?" Hotch asked as he sat in a chair to put on his shoe.

"He's going to meet us there, too," JJ told him.

Hotch studied her face as she untied the balloons from the restroom door. He didn't see anything readable, so he turned his attention back to Jack. "You have fun at Aunt JJ's?"

"Oh yeah, me and Henry built a fort out of cushions and blankets in the living room last night. Aunt JJ let us sleep in there."

"Cool," Hotch said as he was about to grab his bag, but Reid grabbed it first. An orderly showed up with a wheel chair and Hotch sighed as he knew he would have to ride in it to the door. He hopped to it and sat down without a word.

"Here, you can carry this," Emily told him as she sat Papa Bear in his lap. Hotch rolled his eyes as everyone laughed and headed for the elevator.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 20**

On the way to Hotch's house JJ drove Hotch, Emily, and Jack while Reid rode with Blake. When they pulled up they saw Morgan's and Rossi's cars on the street in front of the house. Jack got out and carried the big teddy bear that Hotch had been trying to give him the whole ride home. "I'll put him on the couch," Jack told him. He had told Hotch that Aunt Penny had threatened him with his life if he took the bear, and that made everyone laugh except Hotch.

"Thanks, Buddy," Hotch said sarcastically as Emily handed him his crutch. He made his way toward the house as everyone else carried his stuff. He inwardly moaned at all of attention he was getting, but he smiled as Garcia and Rossi came out of the house to greet them.

"Glad you're finally home," Rossi told him with a slight hug.

"You have no idea," Hotch told him with a look.

"Oh I think I can figure it out," Rossi added with a smile.

Garcia ran up and seemed to actually be bouncing with joy. "I have stocked the fridge and cabinets with all sorts of goodies," she explained.

"Thanks, Garcia. You need to let me know what I owe you," Hotch said as he stealthfully avoided a hug from the excited woman. She probably would have crushed him with all of the energy he could feel coming off of her.

"Oh, you don't get off that easily," she said as grabbed his crutch to halt him. She gently wrapped her arms around him and let out a sob. "I am so glad your home, sir."

Hotch noticed everyone's smiles as he hugged her back. "Me, too, Penelope. Me, too." He let her hold him as long as she wanted, but she let go of him after a quick moment as she wiped her eyes.

"Hey, how that round of drinks?" Morgan asked as they finally made it into the house.

"Huh?" Hotch asked as he made his way to the couch. He picked up the bear and was about to throw it until he saw Garcia looking and then gently put it on the floor by his feet as he sat down.

"We're supposed to have a round of drinks now that you're with us," Emily explained.

"It's like not even noon yet is it?" Hotch looked around for the closest clock. _I have got to find my watch!_

"Hotch probably shouldn't be drinking anyway with his meds," JJ pointed out.

"And that's why he gets the little cup," Morgan explained as he handed Hotch and Rossi each a tumbler of scotch. Hotch's had about two sips in it. Hotch shock his head and moaned at the drink in his hand. Garcia gave each of the others a beer.

"Hey, what about me?" Jack asked dejectedly.

"We wouldn't leave you out little G-man," Garcia started as Hotch was about to protest until he saw her pull a juice box out of her pocket and hand it to Jack.

"Here's to friends, family, and everyone being where they belong!" Rossi said raising his glass and focusing on Emily with the last bit.

"Here, here," they all said as they clinked glasses, beers, and boxes with smiles all around. When Emily got to Rossi, though, she gave him a look to tell him to 'shut up'. Rossi smiled even more.

**XXXXX**

The Reaper smashed a little pane of glass in one of the French doors at the back of Rossi's house. With no alarm sounding, the Reaper reached in and threw a piece of steak to the dog that had come to inspect the commotion with a bark. Mudgie swallowed the steak in one bite and the Reaper patiently waited for the dog to fall to the floor. Reaching in and unlocking the door, the Reaper picked up Mudgie and carried him to a waiting kennel. Once the dog was secured, the Reaper slowly went around inspecting Rossi's house.

**XXXXX**

After enjoying lunch made by Rossi and Garcia; JJ, Emily, and Blake cleaned up as Morgan, Garcia, and Reid went out to play with Jack. Rossi and Hotch quietly watched the boys paly from the living room. "Anything in the files?" Hotch asked. Rossi had wondered how long it was going to be before Hotch asked.

With a long sigh, Rossi set his glass on the coffee table. "Nothing that we could find," he confessed.

Hotch nodded, he didn't think there would be, but he had silently hoped they would find something. "When did Strauss say that security would be pulled?" Hotch knew Strauss would have been on top of the case.

Rossi straitened. "In two days if we don't have anything to prove there is a threat."

_Two days?_ Hotch nodded again. "Strauss must be feeling generous," he said sarcastically.

Rossi let out a cough that Hotch could have sworn covered up the word 'bitch'. "Yeah," was all Rossi said as he laughed at Jack tackling Morgan as Reid and Garcia cheered. He turned back to Hotch. "Aaron, you have all of us to help you. No one will get to Jack or you," Rossi told him seriously.

_And when we're all on a case? _Hotch didn't ask. He didn't want to ruin the day by breaking down again. They heard the girls laughing in the kitchen. Hotch nodded toward them. "How long do you think Prentiss will stay?" He didn't want to let on that he was worried about what would have happened if she hadn't agreed to stay and protect them.

"Well, I guess that depends on how long you let her and how well you treat her," Rossi said with a grin.

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"Don't give me that look Aaron, you know exactly what I'm talking about," Rossi told him with a grin.

Hotch took a drink of his iced tea, his brow furrowed. "She's just playing around like she always has."

"Really?" Rossi stared at the man across from him.

"Well, she's doing it a lot more, but that's just because I'm not her boss anymore, and she thinks she can get away with it."

"Really?" Rossi asked with another grin. He knew he could never tell Hotch how he thought Hotch and Emily felt about each other, Hotch would never listen. If Hotch came up with it on his own, though, Rossi knew Hotch couldn't deny it. He just had to lead Hotch down the right train of thought.

"She's just being flirty. She doesn't feel that way about me," Hotch told him.

Rossi could tell Hotch was trying to convince himself of the statement. "So she just decided to move in with you because she feels, what, loyalty to a man who is no longer her boss? Any of us could have moved in with you." Rossi pointed out.

Hotch cringed when the thought of Morgan moving in with him crossed his mind. Rossi was right, of course, but he knew Emily still thought of the whole team as family. "She's just being practical. She knows the team will be called back to work. She's knows she can take the time."

"And she just up and left her job in London because 'she can take the time'?" Rossi used Hotch's own words against him.

Hotch stared at him. "Do you know something I don't?" he asked with one of his famous stares.

Rossi laughed. "You know that doesn't work on me, right?" Rossi picked his drink up and took a sip as Hotch finally gave up. "Everyone knows something you and Prentiss can't seem to figure out," Rossi said and got up to refill his glass.

Hotch stared after him. _And what's that supposed to mean, Dave?_

XXX

After a couple of hours, Rossi could tell Hotch was feeling the pain from his wounds. "I think it's time to let Hotch get some rest."

They all agreed and said their goodbyes. Morgan promised to be back in the morning to take Jack to school, and the rest said they would see each other at work. Hotch found his way to his room and sat on his bed. Emily got Jack settled in the family room with his favorite TV channel before she knocked on Hotch's bedroom door. "Can I come in?" she asked as she stood in the door way with Hotch's pills and a glass of water.

"Sure," He told her trying to hide his pain.

"You should take a nap," she suggested as she handed the medicine to him.

"Nah, I want to be able to sleep tonight." He didn't want to tell her that he was afraid to take the sleeping pills because they put him too far under, and he needed to able to wake in case something happened. He took out one of the pain pills and gave it back to her. "It's not that bad," he told her and took the one pain pill and the antibiotics.

She could tell he was lying, but she also knew there was no sense in arguing with him. "Well, at least lay down. I'll go get some ice for your arm," she told him as she headed for the kitchen.

He scooted himself up on the bed and lay down. _God I missed you, bed,_ he thought with a smile. Emily came back with the ice pack and got his arm adjusted on it. Then she grabbed a locked metal box from under his bed. Hotch looked at her questioningly, but smiled as he realized what was in the box. "We found these in the warehouse and they found your phone in that car," she told him as she put his credentials, both of his guns, his watch, his handcuffs that somebody had cleaned up, and his phone on his bed. Hotch grabbed his phone first. Garcia had made sure the picture of him had been deleted. He put his phone in his pocket and put his watch on his wrist that had healed enough to able to handle it.

"Hand me my safe, please," he said as he gestured to his nightstand. Emily grabbed it and held it for him to open it. He punched in the code, put his guns in it, and closed it so Emily could put it back on the stand. Hotch shifted himself in the bed and Emily noticed the wince he unsuccessfully tried to hide.

She put his badge and his handcuffs on the nightstand beside his water. "Well, I'm gonna go watch TV with Jack. Yell if you need anything," she told him with a pat to his good shoulder and left him to rest.

**XXXXX**

Rossi tried desperately to not nod off on his way home. The last couple weeks had just been too much and seeing Hotch safe at home had all of the adrenaline that was keeping him going disappearing. He promised himself a few more drinks, a long hot bath, and an early bedtime as he pulled into his driveway. If he hadn't been so tired he might have noticed that Mudgie didn't greet him at the door. If he hadn't been so drained, he might have noticed that his scotch decanter had been moved from its normal position. If he hadn't been in such a hurry to get completely relaxed he might have noticed the piece of glass missing from his back door. But he didn't notice any of it as he headed up the stairs to his bedroom.

He took off his shoes and as he stood up to go start his bathwater the room spun. He grabbed the back of the chair to steady himself. _I haven't drunk that damn much!_ He told himself. Shaking his head he let go of the chair and took a few unsteady steps before falling to the floor. His vision blurred as he saw two feet step in front of him.

"Hello, Agent Rossi," was all he heard as the room went black.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 21**

Emily had fixed Jack and Hotch a light dinner, but Hotch didn't eat. When Emily went to give him his food, she found him asleep on the bed. She didn't want to wake him, so she just threw the blanket over him and focused on getting Jack fed and ready for bed. Once Jack was asleep and everything cleaned up from dinner, Emily decided to take a quick shower before going to bed. She went and opened Hotch's bedroom door, opened Jack's bedroom door, and did a quick look-through of the rest of the house and the yard. She nodded to the agents in the vehicle parked on the road as she went back in and locked the door. She took her protection detail seriously, and while they didn't have a definite unsub, she wasn't taking any chances with the Hotchners. After convincing herself that everything was secure she went into the guest bathroom and turned on the water.

She stepped into the steaming shower and let the water relax her body. Her mind, though, wouldn't relax. She couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Strauss was going to pull security in two days. She had to stay until Hotch was able to protect himself and his son, and while she wasn't sure how long that would take, she was sure Clyde would want her back before that happened. Was she willing to risk her job to stay and make sure Hotch was safe? Before she could even attempt to answer that question she heard something. She shut off the water, grabbed a towel, and opened the door. She wasn't sure what she had heard. Suddenly Hotch screamed and she darted to his room as she grabbed her gun from the pile of clothes she had put on top of the toilet. She went through Hotch's door in a fury _How dare someone. . . _She stopped short as she realized Hotch was alone in the room, but he was fighting an inner demon in an apparent nightmare. She went to him as she put her gun on his nightstand.

"Hotch?" she shook him trying to get him to wake up. She laid her hand on his chest. "Hotch, it's alright." He whimpered and shook as he continued fight against unknown monsters. "Hotch!" She said louder as she sat on the bed next to him and shook him harder. With a flurry of arms he came to fighting. She held him down to protect herself and stop him from hurting himself. "Hotch?"

His eyes were wild for a second as he fought against her. "Jack?" He breathed heavily.

"Hotch, Jack's OK. You're OK."

He finally settled as his eyes focused on her.

"You're safe. Jack's safe; he's in his room sleeping," she told him trying to sooth away his fears.

"Emily?" he asked weakly as she finally let go of him.

"I'm here, Hotch." He took a couple deep breaths and sat up. He ran a hand down his face as he realized he had had a nightmare. "You want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.

He looked at her and was about to say something when he noticed what she was wearing. "Ahh. . . I . . ." he stammered. "Are you wearing a towel?" he finally asked.

She blushed as she had completely forgotten. "Oh shit, Hotch!" was all she said as she pull the towel around her tighter, grabbed her gun, and quickly exited his room.

He shook his head. _Did I just dream that?_ He wondered, but clearly saw the top of her leg and hip as she ran from his room. He smiled, got up, and headed to his own bathroom to throw water on his face. _Maybe sleeping pills are a good idea,_ he thought with disgust. He wasn't sure which was worse, sleeping through something that might happen or having nightmares. _Maybe half of pill_.

Emily quickly dried herself off and got in her pajamas. She had been so worried about Hotch that she had forgotten she was only wearing a towel. Thoroughly embarrassed, she wondered if she should just sneak into bed to avoid facing Hotch again that night. She couldn't, though, she had to make sure he was alright, so she headed back down the hall to his bedroom but turned when she heard him in the kitchen.

"Coffee?" he asked as she came into the room. He smiled again as he remembered her in the towel.

"Please," was all she could say as she could just imagine what he was thinking.

"I see you found your clothes," he joked as he handed her a cup.

"Yeah, well next time have your nightmares a little quieter so you don't disturb me again," she joked back.

"I'm sorry," he told her as he looked at the floor and leaned on the counter.

"I didn't mean it that way. Are you alright?" She asked and he could hear the concern in his voice.

"Yeah, but I think I might have wrenched my shoulder again," he told her as he put his coffee down to rub it.

"Let me see," she told him putting her coffee down beside his and taking over the task of rubbing his shoulder. "How's your arm?"

"Fine, I guess," he told her as he winced at the rubbing.

"Come sit down." She told him grabbing their cups and heading for the table. He followed her wordlessly as he hopped to the table, his crutch leaning against the wall in the kitchen. She immediately started to rub his shoulder again. "Was it Cypress?" she asked clearly talking about his dream.

He shook his head. "I don't know." He sighed as he rubbed his wounded thigh. "I couldn't see his face," he admitted. "He was after Jack, and I couldn't stop him," he told her shaking his head.

"I haven't had a dream like that in a while, thank God. After what happened with Doyle, though, I had them all the time. It will get better, I promise," she told him tenderly.

He nodded. He had had a few after Foyet, but he guessed they didn't last too long because he didn't know about someone else coming after him or Jack at the time. How could he get over the nightmares now? "I'm glad you woke me up before I hurt myself or woke up Jack. Thank you," he told her seriously.

She smiled. "No problem, but to be on the safe side, I think I will shower while you are awake for now on."

He laughed a little and took a drink of his coffee. "Don't want to rescue me in a towel again?" He asked with a playful grin.

"Ha! You just wish it had fallen off," she said coyly as she smacked him playfully on the back and stopped rubbing his shoulder.

He ducked as he thought she was going to hit him again as he laughed to cover up what he was really thinking about. His brow furrowed, though, as he started rubbing his thigh again. "I think I might have tried to kick him in my dream."

"Go get your sweats on, and I'll take a look. You might have pulled some of your stitches," She told him seriously as she got his crutch out of the kitchen. He obeyed without question and made his way to his room. "I'll be back in a minute," she yelled quietly so as to not wake Jack.

After she put their cups in the sink she heard him cuss and hurried to his room. "Son of a . . ." she heard as she opened the door to him sitting on his bed. He had taken off the boot and had his sweat pants on but looked like he was trying to contort himself into a weird position.

"What the hell, Hotch?" she asked as she came up to him.

"Cramp." Was all he got out through clinched teeth.

She quickly knelt down beside him. "Where?"

"Hamstring," he gasped.

She pulled him to the edge of the bed and started massaging the back of his wounded thigh. He laid back and moaned as she tried to get the knot out of his muscle. "You were putting weight on it weren't you?" He nodded and bit his lip to stop himself from screaming out. She kneaded the muscle with her knuckles and she finally felt the muscle relaxing. "You were told to keep weight off of it for a reason, Hotch," she laughed as he started breathing heavily.

He finally was able to sit back up. "I believe him now," he laughed.

She kept rubbing the muscle to make sure it didn't come back. He let a small moan of pleasure escape his lips as the massage sent shivers through him. "That's good," he told her, but didn't make a move to stop her. Emily noticed his flushed face but didn't stop, she knew she pressing her luck but she didn't care. The feelings of her hands on his thigh started to awaken feelings he hadn't felt in a while. As a burning sensation started in his stomach, he felt his manhood twitch. "OK, really, that's good!" he told her as he sat up and pulled her hands from his leg. She looked at him questioningly as he adjusted the way he was sitting.

In the loose fitting sweats, Emily hadn't missed what was happening to him. "Are you sure?" she asked him with a sly smile.

"Yeah, I'm good," he told her quickly.

She started to pull up his pant leg and he moved to stop her. "I thought you wanted me to check the stitches," she asked innocently.

"I checked them. It must have just been the cramp trying to come, start," he corrected himself.

"Well, if you're sure."

"I'm sure." He said and she didn't miss the red coming up into his face.

"Maybe I should let you lie down and try to go back to sleep," she told him as she got up and pulled the covers back for him.

"Yeah, maybe I could go to sleep." _Yeah right!_

"Do you want a sleeping pill to help?" she asked, all playing aside.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," he admitted and she left his room to go get it. As he watched her leave his manhood twitched again and he hurriedly got underneath the covers.

She came back with the sleeping pill and a pain pill. He was about to protest when she handed him a glass of water. "It will be fine, Hotch," she told him seriously. "I'm right here. Nothing will happen tonight."

He accepted the pills and took them and handed her back the glass. "I don't know how I am ever going to thank you enough for all of this," he told her as he slid down under the covers to lie down.

_Well, I could think of something_, she thought with a smile but told him not to worry about it. She turned to leave and shut off his light. "I'll see you in the morning, Hotch. Try to get some sleep." And she left.

He tried to relax. _What the hell has gotten into you? That would have been beyond embarrassing! Unless she felt the same. . ._ and he drifted off to sleep thinking about how he felt about the woman down the hall and wondering how she felt about him.

XXX

Hotch slept through the night without any more nightmares, but he had plenty of dreams of another nature. He hobbled into the kitchen as Jack was eating breakfast. Morgan was already there and waiting until Jack was ready to go. He and Emily were making small talk over coffee.

**XXXXX**

Rossi didn't realize where he was as he slowly started to wake up. A pounding in his head seemed more than a little scotch could have caused and he couldn't figure out why he was still dressed. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes and he realized his hands were bound behind his back. Fear brought him fully awake as he realized he was lying on carpet he didn't recognize. _Son of a bitch!_ He tried to look around but the room was so dark he couldn't make anything out. He tried to focus on the night before. _I got home, poured myself a drink, went upstairs. . ._ _Shit!_ They knew there might be someone after Hotch and Jack, but they never considered he would come after anyone else on the team. _Shit!_

**XXXXX**

Morgan got to the BAU and handed out coffees to everyone that he had picked up on the way after dropping off Jack. "Where's Rossi?" He asked JJ as he handed her a cup.

"I don't know. I thought maybe he was with you," she told him as she took out her phone to call him. After several rings it went to voicemail. "Was he planning on going over to Hotch's?"

"Not that I know of."

"Maybe he's sleeping in," Reid told them obviously overhearing them. "I know I wanted too."

"You're probably right. I'll try him again in a while," JJ said as she put her phone away and went to the conference room.

XXX

A couple hours later and more worried than ever, JJ tried to call Rossi again but still didn't get an answer.

Reid picked up on her fear. "Why don't you just call Emily and see if he's there?"

JJ nodded and pushed the call button under Emily's picture. "Hey, JJ," Emily answered.

"Is Hotch right there?" JJ asked.

Emily could hear the fear in JJ's voice. "Yeah, he's behaving." Emily told her as she understood what wasn't said.

"Is Rossi there?"

"No. I think I can handle fixing dinner tonight."

"Shit," JJ exclaimed. "He hasn't shown up yet."

"Maybe Dave can fix it in his kitchen tomorrow," Emily suggested.

"Yeah, we're going to head over there right now. I'll call you when I know something."

"Yeah, you better," Emily told her with a laugh for Hotch's sake.

She hung up and Hotch looked at her questioningly. "Garcia wants to throw you a big welcome home dinner and I suggested doing it at Rossi's tomorrow, so you can rest today," she lied.

"God, when is that woman ever going to stop?" Hotch asked, apparently believing what he was told.

"Really Hotch, it's Garcia we're talking about," Emily laughed and excused herself to go to the restroom. She left Hotch in the family room as she quickly checked out the rest of the house and sent up a prayer that the team would find Dave at home and happily passed out.

**XXXXX**

Rossi slowly went over the night before again. He could have kicked himself. He should have known something was wrong when Mudgie didn't meet him at the door. He also figured out that his scotch must have been drugged. He tried not to be scared, but the image of Hotch's badly wounded body wouldn't stay out of his mind. _At least it's not Hotch or Jack again_, he thought with a silent 'thank you' to God. _Maybe he just wants all of us out of the way so he can get to Hotch._ With that thought, though, he worried about the rest of the team and hoped to hell that nothing had happened to them, too. He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a door behind him open.

He rolled over to see who was walking up to him but the opened door didn't provide any more light. "What did you do to my dog, asshole?" Rossi demanded to know.


	22. Chapter 22

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 22**

Morgan knew instantly that something at Rossi's house was wrong. They could hear Mudgie barking from the driveway, so Morgan and JJ drew their weapons as they entered their friend's house. They quickly cleared the house and realized that Rossi was missing. JJ let Mudgie out of the kennel they found him locked in. The poor dog was extremely distraught. He wouldn't even go outside when JJ opened the door to the back yard. He stuck his nose to the floor and frantically searched every room for his owner. He whined as he came to the same conclusion that Morgan and JJ had come to. He finally sulked out of the still opened back door with his tail between his legs. Morgan called for a crime scene unit and tried to figure out what happened. "He entered through the back door and apparently did something to Mudgie," JJ told him.

"Yeah, there's no way Mudgie just walked into that kennel. Rossi never locked him up, so I would think the unsub brought the kennel with him," Morgan agreed.

"Maybe Mudgie can identify him," JJ smiled.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Morgan smiled back. "I would also say that Rossi was drugged with this," he told her walking up to Rossi's drink cabinet and pointing to the open scotch decanter.

"Oh, I guess you figured that out by the tumbler on the floor upstairs?" she asked sarcastically. Suddenly, though, she lost her smile. "You don't think he was poisoned?" she asked seriously.

"If he wanted him dead, he would have just killed him here. Rossi is alive, JJ," he told her grabbing her shoulders. They both took a deep breath as they both realized what was probably happening to their friend.

"Hotch is going to shit when he finds out," JJ pointed out.

"I say we don't tell him. He can't help in the search, so it would just eat at him. If he doesn't know, he can't worry about it. Besides, he's got enough to worry about already."

"Well, I have to tell Prentiss," she told him as she took out her phone and texted Emily: 'Call me when you get a free moment.'

"Yeah we need to be careful here, too. If the unsub has Rossi, that might mean he's after all of us," Morgan told her as he took out his own phone.

"Yeah, I got to call Will."

**XXXXX**

"The first thing you're worried about is your dog? That's so sweet," the Reaper said as the light was turned on. Rossi stared, opened mouth. "What? You weren't expecting a woman?" She helped him up into a sitting position and pulled a chair close to him. "Here, this will probably more comfortable," she told him as she gestured to the chair.

Rossi just stared at the woman. _Is she for real?_ Rossi wondered but didn't move. "You haven't told me what you did to my dog," he pointed out.

"Really? Do I look like someone who could hurt a dog?"

"Well, you don't look like a killer either, but I guess your appearance helps you get by with that," Rossi told her sarcastically.

"Ouch! That hurt Dave. Can I call you Dave?" she didn't wait for an answer, though, as she continued. "I would never hurt an animal," she stressed the last word. "Your dog is fine; I just helped it take a nap." She looked at her watch. "And by now I'm sure he's fully awake and wondering how to get out of the kennel I put him in." Rossi studied her face and didn't think she was lying, so he relaxed a little. "Now, do you want to sit on the floor or do you want to sit in the chair? You're probably going to be here a while, you might as well get comfortable," she told him with a smile as she patted the cushioned chair.

Rossi drew his legs up and used the wall to get into a standing position. As he did, he noticed a pistol in the woman's waistline. He wondered, just for a second, if he could take her, but he decided that getting the gun would be a little difficult with his hands behind his back. "So where's your partner?"

"Partner?" she laughed. "No partner. Just a wheeled cart." Rossi's eyes squinted slightly. "But don't worry, I vacuumed your house to get rid of the tracks."

_Damn it!_ "So what? Are you gonna torture me now? Carpet's too nice to get blood all over it."

"Torture you?" She laughed. "No, Dave, torture was Richard's thing. I could never torture anyone," she told him honestly.

"Then exactly what do you have planned for me?" Rossi wasn't sure he believed the woman or not.

"I don't have anything planned for you. I do, however, have plans for your friend Agent Hotchner."

_No! I will die before I let you do something to Aaron!_ "And what do you have planned for him?" He asked as he tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat.

"I am going to make him pay for killing my fiancée," she told him seriously. "Make yourself comfortable. You might be here a while." She put a bottle of water on the table, and after the look from Rossi, she added a straw and then left.

Rossi heard a deadbolt click closed and then heard her footsteps fade away down what he assumed was a hall. He sat down heavily in the chair. He looked at the water and wondered for a second if it, too, was drugged like his scotch. _How and the hell did you get yourself into this?_

**XXXXX**

"Now leave it on there for twenty minutes," Emily told Hotch as he got situated in a chair in his family room with the ice pack Emily just gave him.

"Yes, mom," he said with a smile.

Emily lightly smacked him on the shoulder as she smiled back. "And if you don't you're grounded." She left him and headed to her bedroom, taking her phone out to call JJ and find out what the hell was happening. "Hey," she said as JJ answered. JJ told her everything she knew and Emily agreed with the assumption that the rest of the team might be in danger, she didn't, however, like the idea of keeping it from Hotch. "Yeah, but I'm the one living with him. He will kill me if he finds out."

"But Morgan thinks that he should focus on getting better since he can't help with the case anyway," JJ tried to convince her.

"Maybe not physically, but Hotch's mind isn't wounded."

"But he isn't in the psychological condition to deal with the fact of his best friend missing, is he?"

Emily pursed her lips and picked at her fingernails. JJ was right that Hotch didn't need that on his plate, too, but she still felt really bad about not telling him. "Alright. He goes to get his stitches out tomorrow, and if you haven't found Rossi by then, then I am going to tell him."

JJ agreed and told her she would keep her posted. _Shit! What am I going to tell him about dinner?_ She wondered as she chewed on her lip as she walked back to the family room.

Hotch was still in the chair quietly watching TV. He looked at her as she sat on the couch. "Is there something you need to tell me?" He asked looking at the TV.

_Damn you, Hotch! How does he do that?_ "There's a problem with dinner."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "Ah-huh."

"Garcia wasn't able to find what she wanted to fix, so she postponed it for a few days. And don't ask me what she wants to make because she wouldn't tell me."

Hotch turned to study her better. "And that's all that's bothering you?"

Emily stopped moving. She knew he was looking for clues and she tried hard to keep her breathing steady. "Yeah. Why?"

Hotch gave her a look that told her he didn't believe her, but he didn't press her. He adjusted his arm on the icepack and went back to watching TV.

Emily kicked herself. _God! I hate lying to him!_

**XXXXX**

Morgan slammed a fist down on the conference room table. "We're no closer to finding Rossi than we are to figuring out who the unsub is!"

"It's late. Why don't we head home and try again in the morning?" Blake suggested.

"I can't let you do that Agent," Strauss said as she came into the room. They all looked at her. "With the new development, I can't let any of you go home. If the unsub has targeted you all, too, then I need to make sure you are protected." They started voicing their opinions but she stopped them with a raised hand. "I have briefed the Director, and he authorized several rooms at the Hampton Inn in Dumfries. You all need to stay together to keep each other safe."

They couldn't argue with her logic. "Alright, we'll run by each other's places to grab what we need," Morgan told her. "We'll ride together," he added at Strauss' concern.

She turned to JJ. "Agent Jareau, I took the liberty to book you and your family a suite."

"Thank you, ma'am." JJ told her, surprised at Strauss' caring.

"Keep me posted and watch each other's backs," she told them and left. Morgan stared after her. They all knew that she and Rossi always had this weird back and forth thing going on between them, but they could clearly see her fear since Rossi had gone missing. _God, please don't let him torture Rossi like Hotch was!_

**XXXXX**

Rossi adjusted himself in the chair. While the chair was comfortable in itself, nothing was comfortable with his hands cuffed behind his back. He sat alone in the room all day as he waited for the woman to come back. He wasn't sure if no news was good news, but he was really getting worried about the team's and Hotch's safety. If she could get to him so easily, then he knew she could get to everyone else, too. He wasn't sure what to think about the woman. She didn't strike him as a cold blooded killer, but they had had their share of female unsubs before.

She had said she was Cypress' fiancée, and she said she wanted revenge against Hotch. What he couldn't figure out is where he fit into her plans. Was she going to try to draw Hotch out with him as bait? Before he could consider it, though, the door opened. He watched the woman as she entered and went to a cabinet on the far wall. She opened it to reveal a TV. She then opened another cabinet to reveal a DVD player.

"I thought you might be getting bored, so I brought something for you to watch," she told him as she opened the turned on the DVD player and inserted a disc.

"Sorry, but I really don't do the whole TV thing," Rossi told her with a grin.

She looked at him. "I can believe that," she told him honestly.

"I figure at least one more day of you missing and then Agent Hotchner will be ready to give himself up."

"You honestly think he is just going to give himself up?"

"Sure. He's going to give himself up in trade for you."

"Don't count on it. I'm just one of his agents, he wouldn't just give himself up for me," Rossi lied.

"Oh, I think he would after what I've seen. You two seem to be pretty close," she told him as she worked the remote.

"What have you seen?" Rossi was worried now. _How long has she been watching and why didn't we realize she was?_

"Here, see for yourself," she told him as she turned on the TV for Rossi to see what was playing on the screen.

His breath caught in his chest as he realized he was watching Cypress hauling Hotch into the warehouse. He looked back to the woman. "You taped it?" he asked with disgust.

"Eww! No! Not me, but Richard did. I'm sure you'll find it very interesting. I especially liked the part toward the end. I found it very touching," she told him as she shut the cabinet to the DVD and locked it. She smiled at him and left.

Rossi stared at the screen. He had imagined what Hotch had went through, and he knew from Hotch and the evidence that it was bad, but seeing it start to play out in from him made him want to throw up, and he hadn't even seen any torture yet. He would have given anything to be able to press the stop button.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 23**

Hotch knew something was wrong, and he knew his team was keeping it from him. He made his way to his bedroom with the lie of wanting to take a nap before Jack got home. _They probably think it's for my own good. Damn, am I that fucked up that they think I can't handle it, or is it so bad they know I can't handle it?_ He took out his phone. _Rossi will tell me_, he thought as he pressed the 'call' button. After several moments the ringing was replaced by voicemail. "Shit!" and he instantly knew what was happening. He ran through his options. Apparently the team didn't think he could handle finding out about Rossi. _He can't be dead! They would never hide that! Would they?_ He quickly found Reid's number. _I can make_ _Reid tell me_, he thought with a smirk.

After one ring, Reid answered, "Hey Hotch." The rest of the team tensed, worried that something had happened to their boss. "Is everything alright?" Reid asked apparently feeling the same as the people around him.

"Yeah, everything here is good. What's the update on Rossi?"

_Wait, I thought we weren't telling him_, Reid thought with furrowed brows. He could almost feel Hotch's stare through the phone. With a quick glance at Morgan and JJ and not getting anything from their faces. . .

"Reid?" Hotch said demandingly, and he thought for a second that Reid wasn't going to answer him.

"Nothing new yet, but we have figured out that the drug used was Ketamine." As soon as he said it, Morgan gave him a look.

_Shit! Rossi was drugged? That means he's missing. God damn it! _"Alright. Keep me updated," and he ended the call, as he slammed a fist onto his dresser.

XXX

"I thought we weren't telling Hotch about Rossi?" Reid asked innocently.

"Ahh, man," Morgan groaned.

"Spence!" JJ yelled just mortified.

"What? He knew. Someone must have told him," Reid said trying to figure out what had just happened.

"He didn't know, Spence," JJ told him.

"Man, Hotch just played you," Morgan explained.

Reid looked horrified. "Well, now what do we do?"

XXX

Emily ran to Hotch's room at the sound of him hitting the dresser. "Hotch?" Hotch turned on her and she knew he knew, and he was pissed. In all of the years Emily had known him, she didn't think she had ever seen him that mad.

"Really, Prentiss? And what exactly made you think that keeping this from me was a good idea?"

"Hotch."

"Don't Hotch me! This is Rossi were talking about!"

"Ho. . . I'm sorry. I didn't want to keep it from you but the team. . ."

"The team isn't here, Prentiss. You are!"

"I know, and I told them if they didn't find him today, that I was going to tell you. I'm sorry," she told him honestly.

"I would expect that from Morgan or JJ, but not you. I would never have thought you would lie to me," and he sat on his bed.

Emily could see the hurt on his face and hear it in his voice, and her heart broke a little. "I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am, but we didn't do it to be mean." She sat on the bed beside him. "We did it because we thought you had enough to worry about."

He studied her face. He knew she would never hurt him on purpose. He sighed heavily and the anger that had threatened to erupt in an explosive mess settled down to a dull fury. "When?"

"Sometime between leaving here last night and this morning. He was taken from his house."

"So this unsub knows where we live?"

"Strauss has the team at a hotel, and, of course, she has the security here. She believes, like the team, that everyone could be a target."

Hotch stood up, ran his hand through his hair, and took out his phone. Emily also stood up and wondered who he was calling until she realized he was talking to Jessica and asking her to get Jack after school. After the call, he hobbled out to the family room with Emily following. He grabbed his car keys and threw them at Emily. She caught them effortlessly. "You're driving," he said simply as he headed toward the door.

"And where are we going?" she asked as she grabbed her jacket and draped his over his shoulders.

"The BAU, of course."

"Hotch, you can yell at them over the phone. You don't have to go over there and scare them, too," she joked but was completely serious as she followed him out the door.

**XXXXX**

Rossi was breathing heavily and he had tears in his eyes. He had stopped watching the video as soon as Cypress stabbed Hotch the first time, but closing his eyes and turning away from the screen couldn't stop the sounds of Hotch's screams from ripping through his soul. He had noticed that the video had been edited to fast forward through the long hours of Hotch just hanging there alone. Rossi wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he knew he couldn't let Hotch give himself up and have to go through being tortured again. He had decided, though, that whatever he was going to do it had to be before Jack showed up on the video. He loved Aaron like a son and Jack like a grandson, and there was no way he was going to be able to handle seeing or hearing what happened to them at the hands of the psychopath. _If I'm dead, she can't use me for leverage_, he resolutely decided. _But what do I have to do to piss her off enough to kill me?_ He cringed again as a nerve rattling scream escaped videoed Hotch. Rossi wasn't sure how much more he could take.

**XXXXX**

"Oh, shit!" Morgan exclaimed as soon as he saw Hotch getting off the elevator.

JJ followed his view and her shoulders sank a little when she saw Emily hold open the glass doors for Hotch to hobble through.

Reid also noticed and wanted to crawl under his desk.

Blake was the only brave one, and she went up to Hotch. "Hotch, we are so. . ." she started but stopped as he raised his hand.

"We will discuss how information shouldn't be kept from the boss later. Right now I want to see Garcia. Is she in her office?" Hotch asked as he started in that direction.

"Yeah, she is. Why?" Morgan asked as they started to follow him.

"Because I would assume Garcia's files haven't been hacked to get our personal information," he told them.

"No, not that she has found anyway," JJ told him with a look to Emily. Emily shrugged her shoulders to let them know she had no idea what Hotch was doing.

"So he had to find Rossi another way," Hotch said simply as he got to Garcia's door.

Reid hurried up and opened it for him. "You apparently have an idea on that."

"Yes," Hotch told him as he went into the office past Reid.

"Sir?" Garcia asked clearly upset at seeing him there.

"You need to patch into the traffic cams on the street that connects to the parking garage," he told her simply.

She gave him a questioningly look but started typing on her keyboard. "And when would I be looking for?"

"Last night, when you all left," he told her pulling up a chair and sitting down.

"You think he followed Rossi from here?" Morgan asked thoroughly interested now.

Emily smiled; she knew they needed Hotch to find Rossi.

Garcia brought up the video feeds and zeroed in to the correct time. They all watched as Blake's vehicle pulled out onto the street, then Reid's, followed by Garcia's and JJ's. Rossi's finally came out onto the street a few minutes later.

"There!" Hotch pointed at a vehicle that showed up on the screen. They watched it take the same right as Rossi at the next light. Garcia typed a little more and brought up another street, and sure enough, the vehicle took the same next left.

"That's got to be him," JJ voiced what they were all thinking.

Garcia smiled at Hotch and brought up another camera angel and zoomed into the license plate. With a few more keystrokes, though, Richard Cypress' driver's license showed up on the screen. "Sorry, sir, but the vehicle is registered to our dead unsub."

Hotch stood up, disgusted. _Another dead end! Damn it!_

"Put out an APB, Baby Girl. If we can find it, we might be able to find whoever's driving it," Morgan told her as they all started to leave her office. She nodded and started to type again.

XXX

After an afternoon and evening and no new leads, Emily walked up to Hotch's office door without him even looking up. She noticed him trying to mask the pain she knew he must be feeling after a day of no pain pills and more strain on his body since leaving the hospital. She walked up to his desk and put her hands on it leaning down to look him in the eyes. He finally noticed her and looked up. "You need to go home," she told him trying to sound authoritative.

He opened his mouth about to protest, but shut it and nodded. He knew he was at the end of his rope. He stood up and closed the file on his desk. "Yeah, I'll call Jack on the way home." He had called Jessica earlier and she said she would keep Jack overnight so Hotch could focus on finding Rossi.

As they pulled out of the FBI headquarters, Hotch studied the vehicles parked along the street. He didn't see Cypress' car, but he kept his eyes on the side mirror to look for any car that may be following them. Emily was doing the same using the rearview mirror. After several turns, they both came to the conclusion that they were not being followed. Hotch sighed; he was actually hoping to catch someone following them. He knew he couldn't physically take on an unsub, but he had a gun and he had plenty of bullets; and all he wanted at that point in time was to unload a clip into the son of a bitch who had Rossi.

**XXXXX**

Rossi heard the lock in the door and prepared himself. He had decided that if he charged the woman he would either get the upper hand and escape and Hotch would be safe, or she would get the upper hand and be mad enough to kill him and Hotch would be safe. Either way, Hotch would be safe, and that's all that mattered to the older man.

The woman came into the room holding a bag. "I figured I better feed y. . ." she started but stopped short as Rossi threw his shoulder into her and knocked her back into the wall. The bag went flying as she fell back. She kneed Rossi in the face and drew her gun.

Rossi laid on the floor trying to breathe through pain. He saw the gun and scrambled back up to attack her again. He wanted her to shoot him. He needed her to shoot him. "Don't!" she warned him as she saw the look in his eyes. Rossi advanced again and she kicked him in the side of the head. He fell to the floor again. "Damn it! I don't want to hurt you!" She yelled.

Rossi laid there trying to get the room to stop spinning. A single tear ran down his cheek as he knew he had failed. She apparently had had some sort of training and he knew he would never be able to get the upper hand on her with his hands cuffed behind his back, and apparently she had enough control over herself to not kill him.

"Why? Why would you do that?" She demanded to know as she bent down and uncuffed one of his hands. "Get up!" She told him as she pulled on his arm. Still dazed, Rossi complied and she pushed him back into the chair he had been sitting in. She then hooked the free handcuff to the leg of the table. She grabbed his chin and studied his face. She pulled off her shirt and pressed it to Rossi's nose. "I don't think it's broken, but you better keep pressure on it until it stops bleeding." She told him as she brought his free hand up to hold the shirt. She stood up and looked at him. "I knew you two were close. You're willing to sacrifice yourself for him, and I'm sure he will do the same for you. Don't worry, Dave, it will all be over tomorrow." She picked up the bag of food, put it on the table, and left. Rossi knocked the bag off the table and threw the woman's shirt at the same time. _Fuck you!_ He wanted to yell at the woman. _Damn you, David Michael Rossi, you couldn't even beat a woman!_

*I have no idea what Rossi's middle name is, but Michael seemed right for an Italian Catholic – sue me


	24. Chapter 24

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 24**

Rossi woke up with a start. He had fallen asleep with his head down on his free arm on the table. He looked at the door, but the lock wasn't turning. Hearing a familiar voice yell from the TV, Rossi looked at the screen. What had woken him was Hotch screaming to Cypress to leave Jack alone. Rossi's stomach lurched. If he had eaten he would have surly thrown up at the sight on the screen. The one thing he knew he couldn't handle watching and hearing was playing before him. He couldn't bring himself to look away, though. Seeing cypress pulling Jack by the hair made his chest hurt. It was like his eyes were glued to the screen. He wondered how any human being could attack a kid, and every case they had ever had where kids were involved had always taken their toll on them; but seeing a boy who was like his own flesh and blood bawling and begging for the man to stop hurting his father brought fresh tears to Rossi's eyes and he was finally able to close them. He had imagined how hard it must have been on Aaron to see his son like that, but seeing it – feeling it – was the worst thing Rossi had ever experienced before in his life; and he had seen some terrible things in his fifty plus years.

_You can't give yourself up for me, Aaron. Jack needs his father. Nobody needs me,_ he thought as he tried to think of what to do. He had tried to lift the table, but it was secured to the floor and he couldn't get the cuff off. He thought about how a trapped animal would chew off its own leg if it had been caught in a trap, and Rossi knew without a doubt that if he had the means, he would gladly give up his own hand in trade for escaping and saving Hotch. Another scream from Hotch made Rossi jump in his seat. He held his free hand up to his ear, but it didn't really help.

**XXXXX**

Hotch had an early appointment at the hospital to get his stitches taken out, so he got up and got his clothes together. He got himself dressed without much pain until his t-shirt rubbed across his arm. He inhaled sharply as the material felt like a jagged rock sliding down his arm. He quickly pulled the shirt back off of his arm and inspected the wound. His arm wasn't healing and the infection seemed to be getting worse. His stomach flipped a little at the sight of the red, swollen wound. He sat down on his bed and realized that he actually felt sick. He mentally kicked himself. _I don't have time for this! We have to find Rossi!_

Emily had heard his alarm go off, and she had heard him moving around. She got worried, though, when he didn't come out and went to check on him after him taking longer than she thought necessary to get dressed. She saw him on his bed half dressed. She also noticed the color of his skin and the circles under his eyes. "Hotch?" She asked going up to him. He didn't try to hide his scars from her, and that made her even more afraid. "What is it?" She asked concerned as she sat down beside him. She hadn't heard from the team, so she didn't think he had gotten any bad news about Rossi. She could only assume he had had a horrible nightmare.

Hotch didn't say anything; he just held his arm out. "Jesus!" she exclaimed as she looked at the wound. "You took your pills yesterday." It was a statement as she had given them to him and watched him swallow them. She reached for his arm to inspect it closer and immediately felt the heat radiating off his body. "Oh, Hotch, you're burning up," she told him as she put a hand on his forehead. He only nodded. She got up to get him his pills and a glass of water.

"I don't think the antibiotics are working," he told her and his voice only confirmed her fears that he was getting sick.

"Was it hurting you yesterday?" She asked as she handed him his medicine.

"A little," he told her and she knew that meant a lot.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"We had to try and find a lead for Rossi."

"Well you can't help find Rossi if your back in the hospital with infection ravaging your body."

He gave her a horrified look. "I will not go back into the hospital!" he said defiantly.

"Do you want to lose your arm? They are going to have to do something, and I doubt that it will consist of only changing your medicine," she told him as she headed out to the guest restroom. She knew she had seen a thermometer in there. She came back and when he saw what she had in her hand, he was about to protest, but she just stuck it in his mouth as soon as he opened it. "Leave it in there," she demanded in a tone that told him not to argue. He sighed heavily as they waited for the beep that they knew would tell them it was done. As soon as it went off, Emily grabbed it and shook her head.

"What?" he asked.

"104 – Shit Hotch! You had to know how bad it was getting. They will never let you leave the hospital with that kind of fever."

"Then give me something to help me get it down," he almost pleaded.

"Your pain pills have acetaminophen in them. That should help."

"Got any ibuprofen? When Jack was really sick once the doctors said he could have both to reduce his fever."

She huffed.

"Emily, I can't get put back into the hospital, not now."

Her reserve lifted a little at the sound of him calling her by her first name. "Alright," she caved and left to go get her purse.

He went ahead and got his shirt on, being careful with his arm. That, in turn, hurt his shoulder a little more, but he chose to ignore that. She came back and gave him four little brown pills. He swallowed them with the rest of his water and hoped that the fever would be down by the time they got to the hospital. He smiled his thanks and bent down to put his socks on.

"Really? How stubborn can you be?" She asked him as she yanked the socks from him and put them on his feet with a grunt from him letting her know he thought he could manage on his own. She stood up and before he had a chance to, she put the tip of her index finger on his breast bone. "You _will_ get your arm treated if it doesn't get better in two days, whether we find Rossi or not! Deal?"

He looked at her, and he could tell she probably wasn't going to let him get up without agreeing. He didn't even want to go today except the stitches in the wounds that had healed had become extremely itchy, but he knew he wouldn't go back to the hospital until he had found Rossi. "Deal," he lied.

Emily had gotten ice for him to use on his arm on the way to the hospital, and by the time they got there the wound did look a lot better. He checked in and waited for his name to be called. Once he was back in a bed and stripped of his clothes so they could get to all of the stitches, Morgan had joined Emily in the hall. Hotch hadn't wanted her in the room with him being so exposed. He could hear them talking excitedly and he threw a cover over himself and called them in. "What?"

"Cypress' car has been found parked outside of an abandon building outside Quantico," Morgan told him. Hotch noticed the man was wearing his vest.

"And you're here, why?" Hotch asked obviously wondering why they hadn't raided the building yet.

"We're on the way, but I wanted to fill you in and ask if Emily wanted to come," he explained. Emily looked at Hotch apparently wanting his input.

"Go! I don't need you to hold my hand for this," he quickly told her. "If I can't be there, then having you there is the next best thing."

She nodded and put her purse on his bed for him to take care of. "We will call you as soon as we know something."

Hotch pointed to the door. "Go!" he demanded and they both left. Hotch sent up a prayer that they would find Rossi and that he would be OK.

A young male doctor walked into his room. "You ready to get these stitches out?" he asked with a smile.

**XXXXX**

SWAT had arrived at the building and waited for the team to get there. Once everyone was ready, a burly officer smashed the door open and they all filed into the building. Searching every room with guns and flashlights ready, they found the building empty of people. They did, however, find boxes and items that apparently belonged to Cypress. Emily quickly texted Hotch to let him know what they had found, and Hotch texted her back telling her to take her time, that he would wait at the hospital for her.

In one of the boxes, Reid found mementos from Cypress' time in the Marine. He searched through it all and found some photos of Cypress and his friends. Reid also found Cypress' Medical Discharge papers and medical records from when Cypress had been hurt. Reid read through it all very quickly but didn't find anything that stood out as a lead.

Emily had found a laptop, and she couldn't wait to get it back to Garcia. The battery was dead, but she would have given money that there was something useful on it.

"Look at this," Blake got everyone's attention. They all looked up from their various tasks. "Apparently Cypress wasn't a complete antisocial," she told them as she showed them pictures of Cypress and a woman.

"Humph! I can just imagine what a woman would have to be like to put up with him," JJ scoffed.

"What tall, dark, and psychotic isn't your type, JJ?" Emily joked.

They all laughed. Yes they were still very worried about Rossi, but without little moments like that, they would all go crazy. They continued to go through the items left by Cypress. When they were finally finished, they had a Crime Scene Unit get everything boxed up and sent back to the BAU.

**XXXXX**

Morgan took Emily back to the hospital to get Hotch. They were sure he would be done and impatiently waiting for them. When they didn't find him in the waiting room, Emily's mind went straight to the infected wound and hoped that Hotch didn't have to be admitted. They walked to the nurses' desk to get an update and find out where Hotch was. The nurse on duty looked him up in the computer. They could tell she didn't like what she saw on the screen. "What?" they both asked at the same time.

"I'll be right back," she told them and disappeared around the corner.

"What do you think that's about?" Morgan asked Emily. Emily then told him about Hotch's arm and what had happened that morning.

"He just can't seem to catch a break," she told him seriously.

"Ain't that the truth," he told her as he rubbed a hand across his head.

The nurse came back with an odd look on her face. "Agents," she got their attention. When they looked at her she continued. "Agent Hotchner was sent back for blood work and to receive IV antibiotics."

Emily winced. She knew the wound looked bad. "Where is he? I'll go sit with him."

"Well. . . he never showed back up after getting his blood drawn. We don't know where he is," she admitted.

Emily almost laughed. "Don't worry. He's probably hiding somewhere because he thinks you all will try to admit him," she said with a smile at the young woman. She walked away from the desk and asked Morgan to call Hotch. She had left her phone in her purse on Hotch's bed.

Morgan pushed the call button, but the call went straight to voicemail. With a worried look he told Emily.

"Well, he probably has it off from being back there. Maybe he's down in the cafeteria," she suggested and they walked to the elevator to go search for their boss who was apparently acting like a baby.

"Maybe he's in the car?" Morgan suggested.

"We'll check there next."

Once they checked the whole cafeteria out and any other place that they thought he could hide in, they headed back to the main floor to go look outside. On their way past the ER nurses' station, Hotch's doctor stopped them.

"Agent Prentiss, Agent Morgan," the doctor addressed them. "What have you done with my patient?"

Emily laughed a little. The doctor knew how much Hotch detested the hospital. "We haven't found where he's hiding yet."

The doctor smiled at that. "Well, Dr. Reaha," he nodded to the young doctor beside him, "had the wonderful job of removing Agent Hotchner's stitches. When he got to the wound on his arm, he realized how infected it was and came and got me. I ordered blood work done and IV antibiotics, but Hotchner never showed up after the lab."

"I noticed that he was using his cell and then asked me to give this to you," Dr. Reaha said as she held Emily's purse out to her. Emily and Morgan exchanged worried looks. If Hotch was just hiding somewhere to avoid further treatment he would have kept the purse.

Emily quickly grabbed the purse and searched the little pocket on its side. She looked at Morgan with a horrified look on her face. "The car keys are gone."

"What?" Morgan and the doctor asked at the same time. "He hasn't been cleared to drive," the doctor pointed out.

"Maybe he's just waiting out there and didn't feel comfortable carrying your purse around," Dr. Reaha suggested.

Emily and Morgan quickly went to the parking lot. Hotch's car was gone. "Damn it!" they both cried when they saw the empty space. Emily searched her purse. As the blood drained from her face she turned to Morgan. "Derek!" she said and showed him what see had found in her purse.

Morgan's eyes went wide as he saw Hotch's creds and service pistol in its holster. "What the hell!"

They both stood there, shocked, for a couple of seconds. Then they both turned and ran for the SUV parked by the ER entrance.


	25. Chapter 25

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 25**

Before jumping in the SUV, Morgan and Emily ran back into the hospital and headed straight for the security office. With badges shown, they demanded to see the security footage for the whole time Hotch was in the hospital. Emily was sure see would see their unsub kidnapping Hotch. Morgan knew Hotch would go quietly if the unsub threatened the people around him. They followed Hotch out of his room and down the hall to the lab. He spent about twenty five minutes in there then came out with his phone in his hand. Emily thought that maybe it was the text she had sent him, but instantly changed her mind as they saw Hotch almost crumple to the ground, but he steadied himself on the wall, rubbed a hand down his face, and straighten. He then went back to his room. After about ten minutes he emerged and headed to the exit, only stopping to pass off Emily's purse to the doctor. They then caught him on an outside camera as he hobbled to his car, got in, and drove away. Morgan slammed a fist onto the desk holding the monitors. They gave them their thanks and headed to their SUV.

On their back to the BAU, Emily called Garcia to get her to trace Hotch's phone. Garcia had sucked in her breath sharply but didn't ask any questions as she typed on her keyboard. Garcia could tell by Emily's tone that time was of the essence. "Sorry. It must be turned off," Garcia almost cried.

"Access the last call or text to it," Morgan said while weaving through traffic.

"Sure, just give me a sec." Garcia hands flew over the keyboard.

Morgan used his phone to call JJ. He knew she would be in the bullpen. He had to get them updated. "Hey Morgan," JJ said nicely. "The boxes just got here and we. . ."

"No, JJ, Hotch is gone," Morgan told her. "Garcia, patch us all in together."

Garcia did and then let out a little scream.

"What is it?" Emily asked her, not sure if she wanted to actually know.

"Hotch received a picture of Rossi, and Rossi doesn't look that good. He has blood all over his face and shirt and . ."

"Baby Girl, stop," Morgan told her as he knew she was crying. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. . ." They could hear her take a deep breath. "Then he got a message that says: 'Come alone'. That's it. Is he seriously going to that f. . ."

"Apparently," Emily interrupted.

"I'm gonna kill him! If he makes it through this, I'm gonna kill him!" Morgan spit out between clenched teeth.

Reid, who had joined JJ, winced at the anger in Morgan's voice and thought that Morgan might actually be telling the truth. They had headed to Garcia lair as soon as the conversation started and they were also looking at the photo the unsub had sent Hotch.

"Can you trace the messages, Garcia?" Emily asked as they were pulling into the parking garage,

"Already doing it," Garcia answered.

"Why would Hotch do this? He's not in the shape to face this unsub, and he's got Jack. Why would he do that to Jack?" Reid asked, clearly knowing there was no logical explanation to what Hotch was doing. They all heard Emily's phone hang-up and they assumed that she and Morgan had arrived outside.

Emily and Morgan almost ran through the building on their way to Garcia's lair. Blake noticed them and balked at the frantic looks on their faces. "Hotch is gone," is all Emily said.

They all filed into Garcia's lair, and they all stared at the picture of a wounded Rossi. "The messages came from a disposable phone, nontraceable," Garcia conceded.

"The message said to come alone, but it doesn't say where," Reid injected.

"That means the unsub contacted Hotch is some other way," Blake stated.

_How could we ever manage without her?_ Emily thought with a look at Blake.

"Hotch isn't thinking straight. He would never give himself up like that," JJ suggested.

"He is sick, but this is Rossi we're talking about," Emily told her.

"What do you mean sick?" Garcia asked with concern as her eyes teared up again.

Emily explained Hotch's arm to them and JJ looked about as mad as Morgan. "He shouldn't have been here yesterday," JJ pointed out.

"Please. Morgan would have had to physically remove him to keep him away," Emily said with a smile.

"I know we're talking about Hotch, and he is one of the most resourceful men I know, but how are we going to possibly find him?" Reid asked.

Morgan grabbed Emily shoulder's and looked her in the eyes. "Do you think Hotch is up for this?" He asked her seriously.

She picked at her nails and bit her bottom lip. "I don't honestly know, Morgan."

**XXXXX**

Hotch stared at the phone in his hand. The message had said to come alone, and he did. He couldn't have his team involved; not with what he was going to do. He knew they would argue against it. He smiled at the image of Morgan bodily stopping him from trying to do something they would consider a suicide mission popped into his mind. They wouldn't let him go, but he couldn't not go. He owed Dave. Rossi was his best friend and more of a father than his own had ever been. If things went badly he couldn't allow his team to shoulder the blame. Besides, if things went badly he needed them intact to do the job he knew they would. If he didn't return, then they would take it upon themselves to find the unsub and Rossi would be there with the information they would need to find him. He thought of Jack and while Hotch would give anything for his son, the thought of looking him in the eyes if Rossi died because of his inability to act would haunt him for the rest of his life. If something happened to him, he knew Rossi would take of everything including Jack. Jack loved his 'Uncle Dave', and Jack would understand why his father had to be the one to save him. The rest of the team would endure, too. They would find comfort in each other and they would make it through. He sighed when his thoughts turned to Emily. She would be pissed at him, and she would have every right to be pissed. She had left her home to come and help find him and then take care of him while she protected him and Jack. Just when he was starting to come to terms with the fact that he had feelings for her, he found himself putting his loyalty to Rossi above everything else. _Is it loyalty to Dave or just your own ego of wanting to finish this yourself?_ Either way, it had to be done. If the unsub was torturing Rossi like Cypress did him, Rossi would never last as long as he did.

Hotch shook himself mentally. He couldn't go into this with his thoughts on the worst possible outcome he if truly wanted to succeed. If Hotch had to give himself up to the unsub to save Rossi, so be it. Once Rossi was safe, though, all bets would be off, and if he could physically do it, then he would put a stop to this whole Reaper business. If he couldn't do it, then the infection in his arm would probably kill him a few days anyway. He laughed a little at the thought. His shoulder hurt, and not just the hurt in the joint, but a burning sensation that told him that the infection was working its way up his arm. He knew it would be in his blood soon.

Hotch drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He had driven out of the city to the appointed place and now he had to wait. Wait for more instructions or for the unsub himself, Hotch wasn't sure which. He found himself glad at the notion of it all being over soon. The feeling of not knowing had been eating him alive. Not knowing when and where the unsub would strike was by far the most fearful thing he had ever faced. Finding out that the son of a bitch had Rossi, though, hurt him more than he wanted to admit.

He wiped his brow. _Damn fever!_ He chuckled as he was sure it was JJ's voice in his head telling him that he was sick and the fever wasn't allowing him to think straight. That the fever was making him do something he would never do in his right mind. _Shut up, JJ_. He shook his head. He had to concentrate and come up with a plan, well, many plans, one for each of the scenarios that the unsub might use as a way to make the 'trade'. He looked around his car, noticing the sling he had been wearing in the hospital. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to be wearing it or not. _I guess it doesn't matter now_.

**XXXXX**

"Wait a sec," Garcia said as her fingers moved at a dizzying speed across her keyboard.

"What?" Morgan asked.

"We can use Hotch's idea against him," she explained as she brought up several little screens on her monitor.

Emily instantly realized they were looking at traffic cams around the hospital. "That's brilliant, Pen."

They all leaned in and searched the screens as she focused on the cameras around the parking lots. "There," Reid told them pointing to the top right screen. They all watched Hotch's car pull out of the lot and head East on the joining road. "Can you zoom in to see if there is anyone in there with him?"

Garcia made the other screens disappear and made the one containing Hotch's car freeze and zoom. They all let out a collective breath as they realized Hotch was alone. Without prompting, Garcia switched cameras to keep following Hotch's car as he made several turns through the town. Finally, Hotch's car took a right and then he was gone. "That's it. There are no more cameras where he was headed," Garcia told them very frustrated.

"When this is over, I suggest tracking devices on all of our personal vehicles," Blake said with a small smile.

Emily laughed. _Yeah right! Hotch would never allow that!_

"More like I inject locators in all of you while you sleep," Garcia said jokingly.

Morgan looked at her, he wasn't sure if she was joking or not. "Send that last address to my phone. Come on, Princess," he said as he headed out of the office with Emily following.

"You don't actually think you'll find him by taking the same road?" Reid quickly asked.

Morgan turned to him. "No, but it's better than sitting around and doing nothing," he told him and left.

"Come on, Reid," JJ said as she grabbed Reid's shirt sleeve.

"And where are we going?"

"I want to go back to the hospital. Somebody there knows something."

Blake turned to Garcia. "But out an APB on Hotch's car. Maybe someone will see it."

Garcia nodded and went to work, and Blake left in her office alone.

**XXXXX**

Rossi woke up and looked at the screen, knowing it would be blank. He had actually thanked God when the DVD hadn't started to play again once it was done. His eyes were puffy and he wasn't sure if it was from the woman's knee or all of the crying he had done over watching and hearing the video. Seeing Hotch take out that bastard Cypress had boosted his image of Hotch, and he didn't even think he could think any higher of the man. Rossi had also seen Jack hit the pillar, and Rossi understood why Hotch had thought his son had died. Seeing him trying to get to his son, trying to crawl and drag his wounded body across the floor, only to be brought up short by the chain broke Rossi's heart into enough pieces that he didn't think it would ever be whole again.

Rossi also knew why the woman had chosen him to be the bait. She had watched the video, and she had seen the way Rossi had acted when he found his dying friend. Anyone who saw it would understand exactly how Rossi felt about Hotch. She had just assumed that Hotch felt the same about him. Rossi wasn't sure if Hotch did, but he knew Hotch cared. He was silently hoping that Hotch didn't feel it necessary to prove his feelings by giving himself up, but Rossi also knew that Hotch was a very loyal man. That loyalty might just get him killed.

He hadn't seen the woman since their little altercation, and he wondered where she had gone and what she was doing. He prayed that she didn't already have Hotch. Sure, she had said she wanted to trade Rossi for him, but maybe she just wanted to use that as a ruse to lure Hotch in. Maybe she planned on killing them both. He didn't think she wanted to torture Hotch like her fiancée, but he knew she had it in her to kill him. They had found out that Cypress had been a marine, maybe this woman was too. She definitely had the skills for it. Rossi hadn't realized it, maybe if he had, he would have thought twice about attacking her. _Nah, but you still had to try, Rossi boy. Maybe you would have been more prepared to get your ass kicked, though._

He looked around the room again. He was sure he was in a room within a home, an old Victorian if he knew his architecture. The woman was either going to lure Hotch here, or she would have to take him to where she would make the trade. Rossi had resigned himself that if she removed him from this room, he would try anything and everything to try to get away. She would probably stop him, but he was going to make it as difficult as possible. _And maybe she will have to kill me_, he thought with a smile. Rossi would never contemplate suicide, it was completely against his Catholic upbringing, but he didn't think God would hold it against him for sacrificing himself for a loved one – for family.


	26. Chapter 26

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 26**

The phone Hotch had been given at the hospital vibrated. He opened the message and looked at an address. He started his car, pulled out of the space he was waiting in, and headed out of the park. Turing the steering wheel with one arm wasn't the easiest thing, and Hotch cursed his bad arm. He knew he wasn't in the shape to be going after this unsub, but he also knew Rossi couldn't wait for him to get better. He sighed heavily, trying to get focused on the task at hand.

**XXXXX**

Morgan and Emily turned onto the last street they saw Hotch take. They kept their eyes moving, searching everywhere for Hotch's car. After about thirty minutes, they turned around and searched again a little slower. Not finding Hotch's car was both a blessing and a curse for Emily. She was mad they hadn't found anything, but she was happy they didn't find him dead. Morgan was getting madder by the minute, and Emily couldn't blame him. Hotch had jumped on both Morgan and Emily countless times for going off on their own, and even though they had felt the decisions they made were the best choices at the time, Hotch had been furious they went alone. Hotch was always talking about how they were a team and none of them were supposed to do anything without back up. _You need to practice what you preach, Hotch!_

Emily silently vowed that if Hotch made it through this, that she was going to have to tell him how she felt. Maybe if she had done that as soon as she had a chance after coming back, maybe he wouldn't have felt he needed to do this alone. Maybe if he had the same feelings, and she wasn't sure if he did or not; maybe he would have thought twice before disappearing on her. _Well, I'll tell him if Morgan doesn't kill him first,_ she thought with a sad smile.

They pulled back into the parking garage, parked, and slowly got out of the SUV. "You don't think Hotch would trust this unsub do you?" Emily asked as they walked back to the building.

"Never! Why?"

"He would have to have a plan in case the unsub tried to double cross him. He would have something planned for us to be able to find him and Rossi if things didn't go well, right?"

"Makes sense, but what? Will we be able to figure it out if that time comes?" Morgan stopped and turned to her. "You know I would never admit this in there, but I think Hotch is going vigilante on us." Emily was about to protest, but he went on. "If he just wanted to get the unsub like normal he would have us with him. I think he's walking into this with the plan of just killing the asshole the first chance he gets."

Emily thought about it. "That could be why he left his creds. He's not doing this as an agent; he's doing it as a friend." Morgan nodded. "Do you blame him, though?"

"Oh hell no! I would probably do the same thing, but I'm just worried about Hotch being able to live with himself if he follows through with it."

Emily bit her lip in consideration. "Well, let's just hope that it doesn't come to that." She didn't believe the statement any more than Morgan did, but they headed back to the bullpen a little more worried than when they had left.

**XXXXX**

JJ and Reid walked around the hospital interviewing the staff to see if anyone saw anything while Hotch was there. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, they decided to head back to the BAU. As they walked past the nurses' station Reid noticed something with Hotch's name on it. He stopped and grabbed a nurse. "Excuse me, but what is that?" he asked pointing at a manila folder.

"Oh, that's messages, care directions, and such for Agent Hotchner. They are to be given to him when we see him." She grabbed the folder and looked at its contents. "Here is a lab report from his blood analysis, directions to a physical therapist, and instructions to see his doctor before he leaves the hospital."

"You keep folders for all of your patients?" JJ asked

"Only ones whom we know are due back. It's easier to keep it all together, and we keep them here at the desk so the first person to see him can give it to him," she explained as she pointed to several other folders at the desk.

"Would you happen to know if there was anything in there that was given to him when he was here earlier?" Reid asked her.

"I don't know, but I can check," she told him and went behind the station and got on a computer.

"What are you thinking?" JJ asked Reid.

"Anyone who knows about these folders could have put something in there for Hotch. Maybe the unsub used it as a way to contact Hotch."

"Actually there was a message in here earlier and a prescription for the physical therapist," she told them.

"Any idea what the message was about?" JJ asked her.

"Let me check, we use carbon copy message notes," she grabbed the message book and flipped through it. "Here it is," she held it out for Reid and JJ to read.

To: Agent Hotchner

From: Sam

Message: I put your stuff in a locker down stairs. The man at the desk will have your key.

"And where would these lockers be located?" Reid asked.

"The only lockers I know of are by the staff gym down on B1."

"Thank you," Reid said, and he and JJ went to the elevators.

An older woman was sitting behind the desk that led to the staff gym. JJ approached her with her badge out. "How may I help you?"

"Yes ma'am, we were wondering if you have a locker for an Aaron Hotchner?" JJ asked.

"The tall handsome guy from this morning?"

JJ smiled. "Yes ma'am"

"Well he got his stuff out of it and gave me back the key. He said he didn't need it anymore."

"Did you happen to see what was in it?" Reid asked with a smile.

"Only thing I saw was a phone and a piece of paper. He put it in his pocket, thanked me, and left."

"And there's nothing else in it now?" JJ asked her.

"Nope. I cleaned it, and I have the key ready for the next person to use it."

"Would you happen to know who got the locker, who put the items in there?" Reid asked excitedly.

"No, sorry," she told them as she looked in the computer. "But I can tell you it was rented two days ago."

"Two days? Is that a normal thing?" JJ asked with a look to Reid.

"People rent them for hours, days, any amount of time they want."

"How was it paid for?" Reid asked her.

"Cash. Two days is only three dollars," she explained.

They said their thanks and headed back to the BAU.

**XXXXX**

Rossi spun in his chair as the woman came into the room. She walked to table and sat down a thing of baby wipes. "Your friend is on his way. I thought maybe you'd want to clean your face up," she told him sliding the wipes over to him.

Rossi noticed she stayed out of arms reach. "Why? Did you tell him that I haven't been harmed or something?" Rossi was pissed. If Hotch was on his way, then that meant she wasn't going to be uncuffing him any time soon.

"No, but seeing your face full of dried blood is bound to give him a shock, but I guess that's your call." She noticed the bag of food on the floor.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because he killed my Richard," she stated flatly.

"You do know he was a murdering psychopath, right? That he had been killing for over two decades." Rossi told her. He could tell he was pissing her off.

"Are you trying to make me mad?"

"I just really want to know how any woman could love a man like that."

"You didn't know Richard. You couldn't even begin to understand our relationship."

"I know! That's why I'm asking. Did you help him or something? Were you part of his sick game?"

"No!" she yelled like she was actually offended.

"You said you saw the tape. You saw what he did to Hotch, what he did to that little boy! How could you love a man like that?"

"Richard was just getting revenge for George."

"Did you know that George killed Hotch's wife? That he tried to kill Hotch, twice?" Rossi saw a flicker of surprise cross her face. _She didn't know._ "So if your whole case is based on 'an eye for an eye', then Hotch deserved to kill George." He could tell she was thinking, so he pressed her more. "And with that logic, Richard had no right to go after Hotch!"

"He killed Richard!"

"He was defending himself and his son!"

She looked at him for a moment. "It doesn't matter why. All that matters is that he did, and he is going to die because of it," and she left.

Rossi shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. _You can't argue with crazy people, Dave._

**XXXXX**

JJ had called Morgan while they were on their way back to tell everyone about the phone Hotch had gotten out of the locker. By the time they got back to the bullpen everyone was in the conference room. Garcia was on her laptop trying to isolate all calls and messages that were received within the hospital while Hotch was there. "I don't understand why we didn't see Hotch on the security cameras going to these lockers," Morgan mused.

"We didn't have them look on the basement floors. That's probably where we lost him from the time he left his room until we found him again going outside to his car," Emily guessed.

"You think our unsub's name is really Sam?" Blake asked as she looked over the information on Cypress.

"Hard to say, but it can't hurt to look," Reid told her as he picked up a file to help her look.

"How's it going Mama?" Morgan asked Garcia as he looked over her shoulder at the screen.

"Nothing yet. He might now have even used it while he was there."

**XXXXX**

Hotch pulled into the driveway of an old Victorian house. _Right under our nose!_ He thought with disgust. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His shirt was soaked with sweat, and he knew his fever was getting worse. He shook his head trying to concentrate. _It's now or never, Hotchner._ He looked at his phone and a note he had written to his son and the team that was lying on the passenger seat. If things didn't go as planned, he had wanted everyone he cared about to know how he felt and why he had to do this. He shoved his phone in his pocket. Then he grabbed the note and put it in his glove box. He didn't want to unsub to see it just sitting there. He took another deep breath, got out of the car, and grabbed his crutch. He needed the crutch more today than he had the days before, but he knew he was weak. _And I can use it as a weapon if I have to_, he thought with a wicked smile as he headed to the door.


	27. Chapter 27

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 27**

Hotch struggled up the few steps to the porch. He made it to the door, but before he could even knock, the door was opened by a woman. Hotch looked at the woman with confusion. _Did I get the wrong house?_ He looked the woman over and searched as much of house as he could see. He didn't see anyone else, but the unsub could be anywhere. "You just gonna stand there looking, or do you want to come in and see your friend?" the woman asked looking him up and down. She wasn't surprised at the shape he was in; she had seen what her fiancée did to the man on the video.

Hotch squinted his eyes at looked closer at the woman. "Rossi is here?"

"That's why you're here isn't it?"

"It is."

She moved out of the doorway and let Hotch follow her into the house. Once he was past the entry way she went behind him and shut the door. Hotch turned around to keep his front facing her. He might be weak and sick, but he wasn't stupid enough to turn his back on her. They had another stare-off as Hotch tried to keep his vision clear and give her his famous glare. She was unfazed by it, though. "You'll excuse me for wanting to search you."

Hotch nodded and held his hand up. Which looked a little ridiculous as his bad arm wouldn't rise up at all because Hotch was wearing the sling he had woken up with and his good arm was holding the crutch away from his body to give her the access she wanted. She quickly frisked him and all she found was his phone in his pocket. "I'll take this," she told him as she put the phone in her pocket. Hotch didn't let her see his disappointment.

"Happy?" He asked her sarcastically.

"I'll take this, too," she said putting a hand on the crutch.

"Afraid I won't be able to move very fast if you do," Hotch tried.

"That's OK, I won't rush you." Hotch finally let go of it, and she leaned it up against the wall. "He's right this way. Once you are satisfied, I will take you to another location," she told him as she led him into the house further.

Hotch used the wall as best he could to keep himself steady as he half-walked half-hopped to follow her_. So the unsub isn't here. What is she, a guard to watch Rossi?_ Hotch wasn't sure to make of the cold woman. He could tell she was relaxed, and that bothered him. How could anyone who was holding a federal agent prisoner be relaxed unless she truly didn't care about the consequences? "Has he been hurt?" Hotch asked her hoping he wasn't about to find his best friend strung up and bloody.

"He has been. . . difficult," she told him with a sly smile.

Hotch smiled in his mind. _Rossi? Difficult? Never. _He was about to say something when the woman stopped at a closed door.

She unlocked it, opened it, and motioned for Hotch to enter. "Take as much time as you need. Knock when you're done."

Hotch made his way to the doorway and saw Rossi standing beside a table.

**XXXXX**

Strauss walked into the conference room and everyone stilled. "Have I heard correctly that Agent Hotchner is missing again?" They could tell she was pissed.

"Yes ma'am," Morgan started but stopped as Strauss turned her glare to Emily.

"Agent Prentiss, were you not the one assigned to protect him?"

"Yes ma'am, but we found. . ."

"I don't want to hear your excuses, I. . ."

"He was at the hospital, we didn't think he was in any danger," JJ tried to defend her friend.

"And apparently you were wrong, correct Agent Jareau?"

JJ looked horrified. Emily was pissed, but she was pissed at herself, Strauss was right.

"Ma'am, Hotch told her to go. We had thought we had found Rossi, and he wanted us all there," Morgan told her. She could tell from his tone that he didn't appreciate her accusing his teammates.

Strauss sighed heavily. "I'm sure you are right. I know Agent Hotchner can be. . . demanding when he wants to be."

They suddenly realized that Strauss wasn't mad, she was scared. She didn't like the idea of Rossi missing, and now Hotch was missing again.

"Ma'am, we have reason to believe that Hotch has went after the unsub," Reid told her.

She looked at them. "Without you all? Without his team?"

"Yes ma'am. We're trying to figure out where they are and what Hotch is doing," Blake told her.

She considered them for a moment then nodded. "Keep me updated," she told them and then left.

Emily sat down in a huff. "She's right, you know. I shouldn't have left him alone. We wouldn't be in this mess if I'd stayed with him."

"Don't even go there, Princess," Morgan told her with a glare. "You can't blame yourself for Hotch deciding to do this alone. He wanted you with us in case we found Rossi."

"Exactly. And if he wanted to this alone, he would have figured out a way to do it even with you there," Reid told her truthfully.

"You think he's good enough to ditch me?" She asked him playfully. She knew they were right, but she still felt bad for not being there.

"I do," is all Reid said with a smile.

**XXXXX**

"Oh, Hotch, no." Rossi told him as he came into the room. The door shut behind him, and they heard it lock.

Hotch went up and gave him a one arm hug. "I had to, Dave."

Rossi hugged him back. "Jesus! You're burning up!" Rossi held him out at arms-length and studied his friend. "Damn, you look like shit!"

Hotch laughed. "I could say the same for you," Hotch told him as he studied the man's bruised face.

"Ahh, this is nothing," Rossi said off-handedly. "Is the team out there?" he whispered. He wasn't sure if the woman had any listening devices in the room or not. He pushed Hotch into the chair he had been using. By the way Hotch was swaying, Rossi wasn't sure that he wouldn't fall down.

Hotch took a deep breath and looked at the floor. "Hotch? No! You did not come here alone?" He could tell by Hotch's body language what the answer was.

"I was told to come alone. I couldn't risk you by not obeying," Hotch told him as he finally looked him in the eyes again.

"So no one knows where we are. You do realize you have just walked into a trap."

"I don't think so. She's supposed to take me to the unsub, and I promised to go quietly if you get set free."

"She is the unsub, Hotch!" Hotch looked at Rossi, clearly confused. "She was Cypress' fiancée. She is the one who wants you dead!"

Hotch shook his head. He was really off his game. "Well, she said she wanted to take me someplace else. Apparently she doesn't want to kill me here."

"And you believe her?"

"You spent more time with her than I have. You think she's telling the truth?"

Rossi considered it for a moment. "She is definitely crazy, but I don't think she is a lair," Rossi conceded. "And you have a plan for once she releases me?"

"I do," is all Hotch would reveal.

"And if she doesn't release me?" Rossi didn't like the look in Hotch's eyes, and he wasn't sure if it was just the fever in them or something darker.

"Then I will think of something else when we are away from here."

"We could take her," Rossi suggested. Hotch looked at Rossi's hand handcuffed to the table. He assumed Rossi had already tried to get out of it by the way Rossi's wrist looked. Rossi saw what Hotch was looking at. "You can get her close to me, and I can hold her," Rossi suggested.

A chuckle escaped Hotch's mouth. "Do I look like I can handle a fight? You apparently tried to take her and failed. I can't take the chance of you getting killed, too."

Rossi studied Hotch a little more closely. He looked like he was about to pass out, but it was the look in his eyes that scared the hell out of Rossi. Hotch looked like he had condemned himself to death. "Hotch you can't do this! You can't die for me! You have Jack! Who's going to take care of Jack? Who's gonna lead the team?" Rossi was so upset that he was rambling.

Hotch stood up and put a hand on Rossi's shoulder. He noticed the tears in Rossi's eyes. "Dave, you know I look up to you." Tears were forming in Hotch's eyes, too. "I don't need to ask you to do all of those things if something happens to me. I know you will take care of everything."

Tears were streaming down both of their faces. "No, Hotch. I can't do your job. I can't raise Jack like you can. I can't. . . I. . . I just can't."

"You can and will."

"I thought I almost lost you two weeks ago. I can't go through that again."

"You saved me then, now it's my turn." He hugged Rossi again, let go, and headed for the door. He knocked and heard the lock turn. He quickly wiped his eyes; he didn't care if the woman saw that he was crying, but he needed to clear the tears away to be able to see.

As the door opened, Rossi stretched as far as he could toward his friend. "Hotch, please. . . please don't."

The woman walked into the room. Keeping herself away from both of the men. "You ready?" she asked Hotch. Hotch nodded. He wasn't sure he could trust his voice. "Then let's go."

"Not until you let him go," Hotch demanded as he drew on the last bit of strength he had.

She considered him for a moment then nodded. She didn't move to unlock the cuffs holding Rossi though. She took Hotch's phone out of her pocket. Rossi wanted to scream as he realized she would not be unlocking him. "I assume you trust your team to search for your phone if it is turned on?" She asked Hotch. Hotch looked at Rossi and nodded to the woman. He knew the team would be waiting for a signal and they would come running. She turned on the phone and gestured toward the door. "After you," she told Hotch with a smile.

Hotch looked at Rossi one more time. He straightened and walked out of the room. There were no more words to say.

Rossi, however, wasn't in the same mood as he frantically pulled against his binds. "Damn it Hotch! Don't you do this! Hotch!" and the door was shut.

**XXXXX**

"There's boss man!" Garcia yelled as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

They all stopped what they were doing and gathered around the colorful tech. They could see she was tracing Hotch's phone. As the trace started narrowing they all ran out to their SUVs knowing Garcia would send them the exact location as soon as she had it.

As they ran, they all put on their Kevlar vests. They didn't want to take the extra time to stop and put them on. Hotch and Rossi could be in serious trouble. By the time they were pulling out of the parking garage, Emily's phone lit up with an address; she then told Morgan what it was. Emily's phone lit up again as Garcia called. Emily put it on speaker and assumed the other half of the team in the SUV behind them could also hear the call. "I have medical and local back-up on the way, too."

"Good," was all Morgan said as he concentrated on weaving through the traffic. Sirens and lights were moving people out of their way but not fast enough for him.

"It's a house. It's owned by a Mr. Hughes. It was left to his daughter Samantha, when the man died over three years ago."

"That could be our 'Sam'," Reid told them.

"That's what I was thinking," Garcia cut in and they could hear her keyboard being tortured. "Looks like she was in the Marines at the same time as Cypress. Hello!"

"What Garcia?" Emily asked impatiently.

"She's the one in the photos we found with Cypress."

Morgan and Emily shared a look. Female unsubs weren't unheard of, but they were still shocked.

"At least we know why she wants Hotch," Blake injected.

"Yeah but a vengeful woman can be scary," Reid said truthfully.

They heard Garcia laugh, but it wasn't a happy laugh. "She was in the MPs."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Morgan yelled.

"You all be safe and bring my liege and my Italian stallion back," and they heard Garcia disconnect.

Five minutes later they pulled up to a big house. They instantly saw Hotch's car in the drive way. The local police hadn't shown up yet, but they weren't going to wait. They got out and headed for the house with weapons ready. Morgan and Emily headed for the front door while Reid, JJ, and Blake headed to the back of the house. Morgan waited at the front door for the signal to come from JJ to let them know they were in position.

"Ready," JJ said into her comm link. As if they shared a mind, Morgan and JJ preached both doors simultaneously. They searched through the house quickly.

"Hotch?" Emily yelled out as she searched the main floor.

"Rossi?" JJ called out from the kitchen in the back of the house.

Everyone heard Rossi's voice coming from somewhere in the middle of the house. They quickly found a locked door.

Rossi saw the door handle move and waited for the door to be busted down. Morgan obliged him with one strong kick. "Rossi!" he yelled as soon as the door hit the wall.

He ran up to him. "Get these off of me!" Rossi demanded and Morgan took out the same key he had used on Hotch.

"Where's Hotch?" Emily demanded with a quick look of the room.

"She took him. I don't know where," he told them as he rubbed his bloody wrist.

"Damn it!" Morgan yelled and looked like he wanted to hit someone. Since the unsub wasn't there, he unleashed on the wall beside him and left a hole slightly bigger than his fist.

"Medical is here. You need to be checked out?" Blake asked Rossi.

"No. We need to figure out who this woman is. We need to find Hotch before she kills him!"

"Calm down Rossi. We already know who she is. Garcia is already compiling everything she can on her," JJ told him.

He nodded and turned to the cabinets along the back wall. The cabinet with the DVD player was still locked, put he let his anger help him rip the cabinet open. They all just looked at him. They had seen him mad when they were searching for Hotch before, but he was beyond that now. He pulled a disc out of the player. "What's that," Emily asked. She put her hand on Rossi's shoulder as he breathed heavily.

"Cypress taped the warehouse," is all he said as he left the room that had been his prison.

JJ's hand went to her mouth. Reid and Blake looked shocked, and Morgan got even more pissed.

"And apparently Rossi got to see it," Emily said as her eyes watered.


	28. Chapter 28

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 28**

Hotch rode in the passenger seat as the woman drove them out of town. She held a pistol in her left hand, and she rested it on her thigh while she drove with her right. Hotch could feel himself starting to shake, and he knew his fever was getting higher. "You even gonna tell me your name before you kill me?" Hotch asked trying to pass the time. She was taking him to his death, and she didn't even show any emotion. _Well, at least she's not overly agitated. I wouldn't want her to shot me in the car._

She looked at him for a second as she considered his question. "I guess it doesn't matter, really. My name is Sam."

"And Cypress was your finance?" She nodded. "Can't say that I'm sorry he's dead," Hotch told her truthfully.

She laughed at that. "I guess not."

She took another turn and with the shape he was in Hotch couldn't keep the roads they had taken straight. He wasn't sure he could find his way back. He wiped his brow as sweat started to get in his eyes. He blinked the burning away.

"You don't look too hot," she told him.

It was Hotch's turn to laugh. "Ya think?"

"Don't worry, your suffering will be over soon," she assured him in a cold tone.

Hotch shivered and he didn't know if the cool realization from the woman beside him or the fever was causing it. Somehow, though, he thought he knew which one would get him first.

**XXXXX**

Rossi paced back and forth in the conference room. Everyone was going over all of the information Garcia had gathered on Samantha Hughes. They all stole glances at Rossi, he was like a caged tiger. They were all worried about him. They all knew he blamed himself for Hotch's first abduction, even though it had not been his fault. Now, though, they knew Rossi wouldn't hear of it not being his fault. He blamed himself openly, and he was pissed Hotch had given himself up for him. Emily was afraid that if they didn't find Hotch soon, that Rossi was going to explode.

He had told them that Hotch said he had a plan, and they were all hoping that plan meant coming out alive. They had, in turn, told Rossi how Sam had contacted Hotch at the hospital. They had also told him about the condition Hotch was in when they last saw him. Rossi had also commented on Hotch's condition from what he'd seen. He didn't tell them about his and Hotch's conversation. He couldn't bring himself to repeat what he thought of as Hotch's farewell. He also didn't tell them about the letter he found in Hotch's glove box. He had searched Hotch's car while they were searching the house. He had read the letter and bawled, but he couldn't bring it up until he knew Hotch was dead.

Rossi asked if anyone had informed Jessica of Hotch's disappearance. They told him that they hadn't, and Rossi wasn't sure he could handle telling her that Hotch was missing again. He sighed heavily and sank into a chair. The letter was for Jess and Jack, too.

"We're going to find him," Emily told him.

"I am sure we will, but will he be alive when we do?" Rossi asked.

"Rossi, come on! You know we don't assume dead until we find a body!" Morgan yelled at him.

Rossi looked around at the faces in the room. JJ and Emily were tearing up, Garcia was flat out crying, and Reid looked like he was trying to curl up into a ball in his chair. "I'm sorry. I'm just really worried about Hotch being able to carry out his plan in the condition he is in." He took a deep breath. "I don't think he is dead. In fact, I am sure he is not." He told them confidently.

"How can you be so sure?" Reid asked him.

"Because I can feel it in my gut. I would know if he were dead," he told them truthfully. He thought about the bond that he and Hotch shared, and he thought he would know if that bond had been severed.

**XXXXX**

Sam pulled into a parking lot of an abandoned building. _And this is it,_ Hotch thought as he examined the building. "Get out. We'll go inside. We don't want your friends to find your body too quickly," Sam told him as she motioned with her gun.

Hotch opened the door, got out, and steadied himself on the door. He wiped his brow again, and looked at the stairs leading up to the building. There were only eight, but he didn't think he would be able to get up them without crawling. _Get it together, Hotchner! You will not crawl in front of this woman!_ He squared his shoulders and started toward the building, putting way too much of his weight on his wounded leg.

By the time Hotch got to the stairs he was starting to rethink the not crawling thing. He didn't have to, though, as Sam came up beside him, grabbed him by the back of the belt, and helped him up the stairs and into the building. She left him leaned up against the wall as she shut the door. Hotch noticed his hands shaking, and he tried to get them to stop. _You're never gonna pull this off if you don't stop shaking!_

She helped him into a big open room at the end of the hallway. She then pulled a chair into the middle of it and had him sit in it. Hotch fought the urge to pass out. _Don't check out now. You won't live to wake up!_ He shook his head, trying to make the darkness recede. It did and he realized that Sam was studying him. "You know, I don't even think I have to shoot you. I think you'd die if I just leave you here for a while," she told him with a smile.

_Really? You find that funny?_ Hotch clasped his hands and rubbed them. They were still shaking. "You don't want to kill me."

"Oh, but I think I do," she reassured him.

"No you don't. You don't want to live the rest of your life knowing you killed someone. It's not as easy to deal with as you might think."

She shook her head. "You don't understand, Agent Hotchner. I have killed before. I did a tour in Afghanistan. I've seen combat. I know what killing a person can do to you. Maybe that's why I don't care about you. Maybe that's why I don't feel anything for you except hatred. You killed the only man I have ever loved! The only man who ever understood me!"

Hotch could feel her hate hitting him in waves. _Get ready._ Hotch studied the woman. He could tell by the look on her face that she was fully committed to the act she was about to perform. "Please. Please don't do this."

She laughed again as pulled the slide back, cocking the pistol.


	29. Chapter 29

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 29**

Hotch stared down the barrel of her 9mm. "Please don't do this. I have a son."

"Yeah, I know," she said with a smile and steadied her aim right at Hotch's head.

Hotch stood up as quickly as he could. "Do not do this!" He demanded.

She adjusted her aim. "Do you want to close your eyes?" she asked coldly.

_There's no going back. She isn't going to stop!_ He wiped his brow slowly as she considered him. Her finger curled around the trigger.

BANG!

And they both fell to the floor. Samantha's shot caught Hotch's bad leg, but Hotch's shot caught the woman in the chest. Hotch crawled forward and pushed the gun away from the woman's hand. He scooted beside her and checked her wound.

"You're a sneaky bastard, aren't you?" she laughed and blood came out of her mouth.

"I hid it in the sling," he told her as he held up the little gun that usually rested in his ankle holster. "You have a phone?" Hotch asked as he searched her. He didn't try to stop the bleeding; he knew she was beyond help. She just smiled and took one last gurgling breath. Hotch checked her front pockets and then rolled her over. He laughed as he saw a phone. He pulled it out, opened it, and tried to dial a number. His hands were shaking so bad that he missed some of the buttons he ment to dial. "Damn it!" he put the phone down a second, sat on his ass, and took a couple of deep breaths. The deep breaths threatened to allow the darkness in. _Not now! Not yet! _He rubbed his hands together and then picked the phone back up. He dialed the number more slowly and got it right. He let a little laugh escape as he hit the send button and laid down on the floor.

XXX

Garcia's cell phone rang. She looked at the number, didn't recognize it, and pushed the ignore button. She went back to the traffic cams in search of the vehicle they had found that belonged to Samantha Hughes.

XXX

The call went to voicemail. "No! Garcia!" and Hotch hit redial.

XXX

Garcia's phone rang again. She noticed it was the same number. "Really!" She hit the ignore button again. _I don't have time for this,_ and she put her phone in her bag.

XXX

"Son of a. . ." Hotch started as the call went to voicemail again. He let his head fall back onto the floor. He didn't think he could even drive, let alone find his way back out of wherever he was. He hit redial again and he felt like he was going to throw up, so he rolled onto his side.

XXX

Garcia leaned over and looked in her bag. She thought about not even looking at it, but it could be someone else. She pulled the phone out of her bag. "OMG!" she yelled and hit the ignore button again. She was about to throw her phone across the room when Rossi grabbed her hand.

XXX

"Fuck!" Hotch yelled, and tried to get up. When he finally got into a standing position the room spun and he fell to his knees. He laughed out loud as he realized how pathetic his situation had become. He sank to the ground and let the darkness overtake him.

XXX

"Somebody bothering you kitten?"

"I don't know. It's no one I know," she told him. She knew her frustration at not being able to find Hotch was getting to her.

Rossi looked at the phone after he took it from her. "How many times have they tried calling?"

"That was the third," she told him with a questioning look.

"All three, right in a row?" Rossi asked getting a little too excited for Garcia's taste.

"Yeess," she drew out the word as she leaned away from him.

He gave the phone back to her. "Dial it back!" he half yelled as everyone stopped what they were doing and watched him.

Garcia took the phone as if it was going to try to bite her.

"You think Hotch is trying to call?" Emily asked as she realized what was happening.

"Ooohhhhh," Garcia said with wide eyes. "I just hit ignore! I didn't even think. . ."

"Just call it, Baby Girl," Morgan tried to get her to calm down.

They watched as Garcia dialed and put it on speaker. They all listened quietly as it rang, and rang, and rang. Garcia looked like she was about to cry.

"Can you trace the call?" Reid asked excitedly.

"Oh, of course," Garcia said as if she had just remembered she had hands. Her fingers flew over the keyboard.

Rossi saw the map was zeroing in on Virginia, and he headed out of the room. They all followed just as they had when Hotch's phone lead them to Rossi. Rossi didn't even wait for all of the doors to close before he put the SUV in reverse. They went to the street and waited for the address. Within a minute Garcia had provided them with one, and Rossi sped down the road. Emily held on for life as she noticed Rossi drove even worse than Morgan when he was mad.

Emily's phone rang and she put Garcia on speaker. "All I can find in the area is an old plantation house. It is owned by the Parks and Recreation Department and due to be demolished next month. Medical and police are being routed to you, too."

"Can you actually tell if the call came from inside the house?" Reid asked her from behind Rossi.

"No, sorry, boy-wonder. All I can get is about a one mile radius."

"Hey! That's good enough. We'll find him," Morgan reassured her.

"Please hurry. I couldn't take it if he's. . . . and I didn't answer. . ."

"He'll be fine Garcia!" JJ told her.

"Alright! Be safe! And find him!" and Garcia hung up.

Twenty minutes later they turned off the road onto a long gravel driveway. "You want us to stop and search the grounds?" Morgan asked through his comm link.

"Let's search the house first. If we don't find him in there, then we'll search the grounds," Rossi told him. They came around a turn and saw a vehicle parked close to the house.

"You think she's in there?" Emily asked as she adjusted her vest.

"I would think so, but if Hotch is alive, I would bet she is dead," Rossi told her with a grim look.

She nodded and took a deep breath. She jumped out of the SUV before Rossi had it in park. Rossi and Reid joined her as they made their way toward the front. Morgan, JJ, and Blake headed toward the back.

"Be careful, we don't know what kind of shape this place is in. We don't want anyone falling into the basement," Rossi told everyone.

"Ready," Morgan's voice came over the comm link and they all entered the house. Rossi led the way down the hall, aiming high. Emily followed him, aiming low. Reid brought up the rear and kept an eye behind them. As soon as they entered the big room they saw Hotch and Samantha. Rossi stopped and Emily almost ran into him. The image of Hotch lying on the floor in the warehouse jumped into Rossi's mind. "No!" he yelled as he ran to his friend again. He fell to knees beside his prone friend and rolled him over. Emily stood beside him. Reid went to the woman and checked for a pulse.

Hotch's shirt was soaked, but Rossi couldn't see any blood and he sent up a silent 'thank you' to God. "Hotch! Come on!"

Hotch moaned and opened his eyes. "Dave," he gasped. "I thought Garcia was just gonna ignore me," he told him with smile.

"Well, make sure you don't mention that to her; she's upset enough," Rossi told him with a smile.

Hotch nodded weakly. "Told you I had a plan."

"That you did," Rossi told him as everyone else came into the room.

Seeing the friendly banter between the two men sent Emily over the edge. "God damn it, Hotch!" She yelled as she knelt down beside him.

"I'm sorry," Hotch told her.

"You know we're gonna kill you, right? For being so stupid! Morgan's got first dibs, then me and JJ. Hell, I even think Reid and Blake want in on the action!" She yelled as she looked him over and noticed fresh blood on Hotch's leg.

"I can imagine, but if you don't get me to the hospital soon, I don't think any of you will get that chance," he told her with a shaky voice.

"They're coming," she told as the anger left her. She moved and put pressure on his wounded leg.

"It's not my leg I'm worried about. It's my arm," he gasped.

Rossi undid the straps to the sling and slid Hotch's arm out of it. Hotch let out a small yelp. "Sorry!" Rossi told him as he noticed a strange wet stain surrounding Hotch's upper arm. He ripped open the sleeve to expose the wound. The stitches had been ripped out by the swelling and left the foot long wound gaping. It was oozing, bloody and had a horrible smell coming from it. Rossi winced, but Emily looked like she was going to throw up. "Jesus Christ! You came to get me with this like this?"

"Sorry," Hotch said again.

Rossi looked at Emily. "You said Morgan's got first dibs?" Hotch laughed weakly as medics arrived by his side. "You're gonna be fine," Rossi told him, gave him a kiss on the head, and then helped Emily up so they could get out of the way.

As Rossi watched the medics work he hoped the last thing he said to Hotch didn't turn out to be a lie. He put his arm around Emily; she was crying softly.

Morgan looked at Emily out of the corner of his eye. It was one of the few times he had ever seen her cry.

The medics got Hotch loaded and Emily and Rossi were both standing at the back of the ambulance. "Go," Emily told him.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! We'll be there soon," she told him with a smile. Rossi jumped in and the ambulance left.

Morgan walked up to her carrying Hotch's gun. "Apparently that's why he was wearing that sling again."

She laughed. "Well, at least he didn't go vigilante on us." He raised his eyebrows. "She shot him. He probably gave her every chance not to."

"True, he probably only brought out his gun when he knew there was no other way to protect himself."

She put her arm inside his, and they went back in the building to help.


	30. Chapter 30

_**Old Enemies**_

**Chapter 30**

The ride to the hospital was uneventful to Rossi's relief. The medic started pumping Hotch full of antibiotic and fluids to help replace the fluids Hotch had lost to the fever. They also gave him something for the fever that was still burning through his body. Hotch stole a couple glances at Rossi. Rossi held his hand and smiled whenever Hotch looked at him. Rossi thanked God that it wasn't a repeat of the last time he had ridden with Hotch in an ambulance. They arrived at the ER quickly and Hotch disappeared around the corner to be treated. Rossi hoped that treatment didn't require another trip into surgery. He went to fill out the required papers, but he figured they had most everything they needed from the previous visits.

"Oh my God! Really?" Came a loud yell from somewhere back in the ER.

Rossi smiled, he recognized Hotch's doctor's voice. _Well that will make his treatment a little easier since he already knows what happened before._

Rossi found a seat and waited to be updated. He took a deep breath and then another. The day could have taken a seriously different turn, and he was glad he didn't have to deal with what could have been the hardest day of his life. He took the note Hotch had written out of his pocket. He couldn't bring himself to read it again; he couldn't stop himself from crying the first time, and he didn't think reading again would be any easier. He thought about throwing it away but decided against it. He would put it back in Hotch's glove box before Hotch got out of the hospital, so Hotch wouldn't know he had read it. The letter had been extremely personal and open, something Hotch never was. He might feel embarrassed if he knew Rossi had read it. He put the letter back in his pocket, and was glad he had decided not to share it everyone else.

"Agent Rossi?" Hotch's doctor came up to him. Rossi stood up and shook the man's hand. "I was about to jump Hotchner for getting to the point of his arm almost killing him before he came back in," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And then, low and behold, I realize he'd been shot."

Rossi looked at the doctor. "He's been. . . busy," Rossi told him flatly.

The doctor studied Rossi face. "And you have been busy, too, it seems."

Rossi laughed. "Just a little. How is he?" Rossi asked serious again.

"Well, compared to his earlier injuries, the GSW is a scratch." Rossi nodded. "His arm however has one of the worst infections I have seen in a long time. According to his blood work earlier, the infection had yet to reach his blood stream, but we are running blood tests again to make sure nothing has changed. If we can stop it before it reaches his bones and blood stream, he will be fine. Only time will tell, though. We will get him on the strongest antibiotic intravenously and clean the wound. Once his wound is clean, we will admit him," the doctor stressed the last part.

Rossi raised his eyebrows. He figured Hotch would be admitted, but he couldn't figure out what the doctor was getting at. "And?"

"I know Agent Hotchner despises the hospital. I am asking for your help in keeping him here until the infection is under control enough that I think he will be alright at home."

Rossi smiled. "You want me to cuff him to his bed?"

"God, I would hope it wouldn't come to that, but sure, if that's what it takes." He smiled back.

"Don't worry. We'll will keep him firmly in place, but just be aware that his cooperation and mood will change drastically with each passing day."

"I can accept that. I don't care what he thinks of me, I just want to make sure he gets better," he told him with a smile and turned to leave.

"What if the infection does reach his blood or bones?" Rossi asked, the worry very evident on his face.

"Honestly?"

Rossi nodded. "Please."

"He could lose his arm." Rossi winced. The doctor knew the kind of work Hotch did, so he knew how damning those words were. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," he told him, squeezed his arm, and went back to Hotch.

Rossi sat back down heavily. Hotch wasn't out of the woods yet. He laid his head back against the wall and waited for the team to get there.

Forty-five minutes later the team showed up and went to Rossi. "How is he?" Emily asked before anyone else could.

"His leg is fine. His arm is another story." They all had a seat and waited for Rossi to continue. "The doc said that if the infection stays out of his blood and bones, then he'll be fine. We won't know if that will happen, but it is bad enough that it could be a possibility."

Morgan ran a hand over his head. They all knew what happened to limbs when infection ran amuck. "I should have made him go home when he showed up at the BAU."

"Oh, please. No one is to blame for this. Only Hotch knew how bad his arm was," JJ pointed out.

Emily winced and picked at her nails. "I did," she admitted. "Well, not that bad, but I knew he should have been admitted back into the hospital. I helped him hide its severity this morning so he could help us with the case."

"And you made him come to the hospital. You didn't know he would leave," Reid told her.

"Alright! No blaming anyone or ourselves, that won't get us anywhere!" Rossi suggested. He waited for each of them to nod their agreement. "OK. Did anyone call Jessica?"

"Yes. I told her he's in the hospital because to the infection. She said she'd wait until tomorrow to bring Jack up. I also told her that everything was finally over, and she was very relieved."

"I can imagine," Rossi told her with a smile. "I also assume Garcia knows?"

"Of course. I told her as soon as the ambulance left," Morgan told him.

"And Strauss?" Rossi asked, but by the looks they all gave him, he knew they hadn't called their Section Chief. "Really? Thanks guys," Rossi said as he got up to go call.

"Well, with as excited as she was when you showed back up, we figured you should be the one to update her," Emily said with a smile.

"And exactly what are you implying, Prentiss?" Rossi asked with raised brows.

Emily shook her head. "Nothing," she said innocently.

"Cause if you're trying to point fingers and imply things, I could do the same for you," he told her with a sly grin and headed for the door.

Everyone noticed Emily blush before she ducked her head, suddenly interested in retying her boots. JJ laughed.

"Busted," Morgan said with a grin.

"Shut up, Morgan," Emily told him with a glare.

Two hours later the doctor came out to tell them what room Hotch was being transferred to. They all got up to go visit him, but the doctor said that Hotch was still asleep. "We put him under to clean the wound. He'll be out for a few hours," he explained. "Why don't you just come back in the morning?" He knew from previous experience that they wouldn't listen, but he had to try. They all looked like they could use some major sleep.

"We won't stay long," Rossi assured him and they headed up stairs.

The doctor shook his head. The whole team thoroughly impressed him. _Now if they could just keep their boss out of trouble._

XXX

Hotch woke up and realized that Emily had fallen asleep on him like the last time he was in a hospital bed. She was holding his hand and had put her head down on his bed. Her other arm ended up lying across his abdomen. He smiled down at her head. She was turned away from him, so all he could see was her hair. He knew everything was over, so he knew she didn't stay to protect him. She must have stayed because she wanted to, and that made him smile even harder. He fought the urge to run his hand through her hair. He couldn't anyway because he couldn't with his right and his left was in her hand, and he didn't want to break that connection.

He looked at his right arm. It rested on a pillow and his upper arm was wrapped, but a tube was running out of it. He knew they had cleaned it, and while it was giving him pain, it wasn't burning like it had been earlier. He couldn't even feel the wound in his leg. The doctor had told him in the ER that it was a through and through that didn't hit anything major. That was good because he wasn't sure how much more his poor leg could take. His calf hurt, but he knew that was from walking on it. Beside his arm, his calf was the worst wound Cypress had given him because the slice had went across his muscle. He didn't think the walking had done any real damage, though. It was just sore from being used when it shouldn't have been.

He felt drained. He felt like he could sleep for a month, and he knew the stress and the fever had taken their toll. He noticed, though, that his fever was down or maybe even gone. He wondered why he had woken up. Emily was sleeping peacefully and the hospital was quiet, so why had he wakened? Maybe he had just come out of the anesthesia. He looked around his room. He knew they were going to admit him, and apparently the whole team had been to see him. The giant balloon with a bear that said 'Get Well Soon' had to be from Garcia. He smiled at it, but he knew he was going to have to stop the whole 'bear' thing before Garcia went completely over board. That made him smile again. _She'll still go overboard._

He looked back at Emily again, and suddenly he was mortified. _Did they read the letter? Oh, God! Is that why she's here?_ He had confessed his feelings for her and expressed how sorry he was for not telling her before. If she had read it? _God! I'll never be able to look any of them in the face again._ He wanted to disappear. Just then, Emily sighed and turned to face him. He had shut his eyes and hoped she didn't know he was awake. She gently eased her hand out of his and sat up. He could hear her stand up and leave the room. He had to find out if they knew about the letter, but he wasn't sure how to do it without tipping them off to it. He could just picture them racing to his car, where ever it was, to try to be the first to read it. He wasn't sure, but he would bet money that JJ or Morgan would be the fastest, but he wouldn't put it past Prentiss to trip one of them. He chuckled at the thought.

Emily had opened the door without him realizing it. "Exactly what is it you find so funny?"

Hotch had a 'deer in the headlights' look for a millisecond, but his usual stoic expression replaced it with precision. "I just noticed Garcia's balloon. I'm gonna have to have a talk with her." He adjusted his bed to sit up more. She went up and adjusted his pillows.

Emily laughed at that. "You just need to stop getting put in the hospital. You know she means well."

"Yeah, but really, bears? What have I done to make her think of bears?"

"Oh, you know, that grizzly look you always give everybody." He looked at her. "Yeah like that, just a little more eyebrow," she told him laughing.

"I've been called a wolf, a panther, and now a bear. Jesus Christ! Any other animals I've been compared to that I should know?"

"No, I think you've covered them all, but I could tell you about some of the other things you've been compared to." She gave him a sly smile.

"No thanks." He studied her. She wasn't acting like she had read the letter, but he wasn't sure because he knew she could compartmentalize very well.

"What?" she asked as she became uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

He shook his head. "I was just wondering why you're here. You don't have to protect me anymore."

"Maybe I didn't want you to be alone. Maybe I just wanted to be here," she told him offhandedly as she sat down next to him.

He studied her again. "Well. . . thank you, but I can handle just lying in a bed."

"Maybe your doctor asked for a guard to make sure you didn't get up and leave."

"Now, that I believe." She gave him her best 'that hurt' look. "He doesn't have to worry about that. I'm not going to rush off and risk losing my arm. Besides, there isn't anything that I have to rush off to."

"Well, I'm sure he will be glad about that. What, you giving it two or three days?"

"Two should be good enough to tell me if I'm getting better or worse," he told her truthfully.

She laughed. "So you're going to bust out of here in two days as long as you don't get any worse? Damn Hotch, most people don't wake up in a hospital after almost dying – TWICE – and immediately come up with a plan to get out."

"I'm not most people," he told her slyly.

"Don't I know it," she said under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

**XXXXX**

Three days went by and Hotch's arm healed drastically as soon as the infection was under control. The whole team had visited off and on, but Emily had stayed the whole time. The doctor reluctantly released him with a promise from Emily that she would keep an eye on him. Emily drove him home and he moaned when he saw everyone's cars along the road. "Just stop. Garcia and the boys wanted to throw you a welcome home party, and you will like it!" she told him as she handed him his crutch as he got out of the car.

"I will, huh?"

"Yes, you will."

"And when did you become my wife?" he asked jokingly.

"I had it done when you were asleep," she laughed.

"Well, then, I guess it's 'yes ma'am,'" he laughed with her as they made their way up the drive.

"Daddy!" Jack yelled as he launched himself out of the house towards his father. He came to a skidding halt as Hotch turned his body so his excited son would run into his good leg.

"Hey, Buddy!"

"Are you glad to be home?"

"Of course!"

"Uncle Dave and Uncle Morgan are grilling and it's not even summer!" Jack told as he grabbed his hand and started pulling him inside.

"Is that right? Are they making Daddy a steak?"

"Yep! And me and Henry get hot dogs!"

"Cool!" Hotch told him as they finally made it inside. Hotch groaned inwardly as he saw how Garcia and the boys had decorated. Every balloon and streamer had some sort of bear on it. Right in the middle of it all sat the giant bear Garcia had bought him, and somebody thought it appropriate to but one of Hotch's good ties around its neck.

"Well, it's about time you get here. You want a cold beer?" Morgan asked gesturing with his own bottle.

"Give the man a chance to get in first," Rossi scolded Morgan, and went up to give Hotch a hug. "Welcome home my friend."

Hotch hugged him back. "It's good to be home."

"And finally able to completely relax!"

Hotch smiled at the man. "Yes, finally!"

Everyone gathered around and welcomed him home, Morgan got him a beer. The whole party was going nicely and once the food was done, everyone sat down to eat. Rossi had even brought Mudgie with him. He had earned a steak, too, after what he had been through. After eating everyone settled down and just enjoyed each other's company as Garcia went around passing out her famous cookies. The boys took two each and went outside to play with Mudgie. Hotch quietly escaped everyone's attention and slipped out the front door. He hobbled over to his car as he wondered who had brought it to his house. He went around to the passenger side and opened the door. He held his breath as he opened the glove box. He let the breath out and relaxed when he saw the letter still there. He sat in the car and took the letter out. _Shit!_ He knew someone had read it by the way it was folded. It also looked crinkled and Hotch figured it must have spent some time in someone's pocket. He unfolded it as he wondered who had read it and put it back. "I found the letter," Rossi said and actually startled Hotch as he hadn't heard anyone approach.

Hotch got out of the car and looked at the man who was so many things to him: friend, coworker, mentor, father. "You read it?"

"Yeah," Rossi said his eyes watered.

"You share it with anyone?"

"No. I couldn't do that until I knew for sure."

Hotch nodded and looked at the ground. "It's all true, you know?" His eyes watering, too.

"Yeah, I know." Hotch looked at him again. "Some of the other people in there may not, though. Maybe you shouldn't wait until you die before you tell her how you feel."

"But I . . ." Hotch started as he wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"Don't 'but' me Aaron. You've liked Prentiss for a very long time." Hotch went to say something, but Rossi went on. "Yes, I know you were her boss, and I know the stickler in you would never go against policy, but you're not her boss now, Aaron. You missed your chance when she left because you were with Beth."

"Alright, Dave."

"No, Aaron. Why exactly didn't it work between you and Beth, huh? And don't tell me it was because she moved."

Hotch just stared at him.

"Do you think it might be because you kept thinking about a different dark haired woman?"

Hotch looked at the ground again.

"Aaron, I don't need to be a profiler to see your attraction to her. Hell, the whole team knows it."

Hotch's mouth hung open.

"Well, the whole team except Prentiss."

Hotch looked relieved at that, and when Rossi didn't continue he shuffled his good foot on the pavement. "And if she doesn't feel the same?"

Rossi laughed. "And here I thought you were top notch profiler."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Jesus, Aaron, are you really that blind? I tried to explain it to you when you came home last time. We all can see the attraction you and Emily have for each other. Apparently, you two are the only ones who don't see it." Rossi could tell Hotch was thinking about it. "What have you got to lose? If she doesn't feel the same, then she goes back to London. And everything is back the way it was."

Hotch smiled. "I guess. I don't really have an excuse, do I?"

"Not anymore. Now put that letter away, and let's get back in there before they think we went missing again."

Hotch laughed, put the letter away, and followed Rossi back into the house. _God, it is good to be home._

**The End**


End file.
